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Wonderfful photos of Auob cheetahs both Lionspoon and Jo! I really hope that I will be able to get as close to them as you did in April 2012! The little one is soooo cute! Where else can one see cheetahs like this? Thank you for your wonderful posts. I am an admirer of your (always) grear photos! FMJ

Hi all
an update on Elena (i think thats her name) and her limping cub.
We first sighted them on the 15th Nov. she had killed a springbok
and had it under a tree. we didn't notice the little one until some time later.
they were on the other side of the riverbed so a fair bit away.
But through the binoculars we could see the little one was in a bad way.

it was feeding which was a good sign. the mother then left the kill and
headed towards the road constantly calling and looking back. She would
move 30 meters then lye down then move a bit more. The cub tried to
follow but could only make it 10 or so meters.

A jackal had found the kill and was finishing it off and then noticed the cub.
they kind of stared at each other for a while and the cub went very low in
the grass. The mother moved back towards her cub but laid back down in
the grass still very far away. by this stage there was also a valuture and a
tawny eagle sitting in the tree near to were the cub was. One of the eagles
swooped down for a closer look at the cub.

Unfortunately it was getting dark and we were pushing our luck with getting back
in time and sadly had to leave a very emotional scene.

a couple days later (morning of 17th or 18th) we spotted the mother Elena again.
We were pretty sure it was her i have included some pictures to compare.
She was alone and was not calling. She was sent marking a tree.

it didn't look good. one small conciliation is that same day we saw another mother
with 2 cubs just a bit further down the road and a mother with 4 cubs!!! later that day.
will post those pictures once i have gone through them.

all cubs looked healthy and in good shape.

first 3 pictures are from the first sighting of Elena with cub
last 3 pictures are from the second sighting of elena ( i think) with no cub


Elena and cub 01 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr


Elena and cub 3 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr



Elena and cub 02 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr


Second sighting


Elena 02 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr


Elena 01 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr


Elena 03 by Mike&Lara, on Flickr

welcome to the forum mike_wildearth
thank you for the news, very sad news
Jackal, Vulture, Tawny
seems to be a very, very terrible end

My hope is vanishing with each mite having seen Elena on her own.

But thank you, Mike, for the update!
And a warm welcome to the forums.

I thought i would try to post some pics of Elana and her cub which i saw in Nov. (See recent animal sightings thread) Had i nice PM from Lion queen asking for some pics so here goes. This one is of Elana in not a very good mood with the Jackal, if i can post this pic correctly i will post some more of the sighting.

What a stunning and interesting photo Wildc..................and you got the posting picture thing under control so more pictures would be very nice.



Lionspoon I have to agree the hope is now very low...................

thanks wildc and welcome, not to the forum, for the posts... a lots a posts

magnificent photo of Elena
dear Elena

Some more pics of Elana, cub and Jackal, sorry the quality is not so good. Dreaming of that canon 500mm. One day.......



Above, and below. Elana and cub fending off the Jackal. Notice how close the Jackal is to the cub. I really thought the Jackal was going to kill the cub in front of my eyes.

The cub fights back, before mum gets really upset.




The end of the chase, Elana has clearly got the message across.





Mother and cub slowly walk off towards the dunes.

thank you

Wow those photos do tell a stunning story............

Just to confirm we saw Elena without her cub on Monday 5th Dec at Viertiende Boorgat and Dr Mills has confirmed she has lost her cub .... sorry ... but we did see Lisette and her 4 cubs and Caster and her 2 up near Craig Lockhardt as well as 2 other moms both with 3 cubs near Leeudrill and Kij Kij - Dr Mills says there at least 12 cheetah cubs in the park at the moment

Scouter, thanks for the info we have all dreaded, I guess.

On a positive note. It's great to hear that there are so many cubs
in KTP at the moment and equally good to hear that all are doing
well.

wildc, thanks for sharing your magnificent sigthing with us.

Sad news!

@Scouter - Concerning cheetahs and cubs, I think you had a bumper trip!

Thanks wanderw - we sure did - got stunning photos of both Lisette and her cubs and also Caster and her 2 - both on kills next to the road up at MM - and saw lots of others between TR and Kij Kij - it was pumping with cheetah sightings in both rivers