Monday, January 14, 2008

Cheetah Pictures

Here are a few pictures I took of a cheetah that was found lounging under a tree in the Masaai Mara.






One thing I didn't expect on the safari was just how "tame" the animals were. I'm not sure if they are used to the safari vehicles driving around, or they just don't perceive them as a threat, but most of the animals wouldn't run away when a vehicle approached. In fact, some would allow the vehicles to get quite close. For some of the more popular animals (such as the predators), it was a common occurrence for a whole bunch of vehicles to be clustered around the animal. Once one driver found a popular animal, everyone else in the area would drive over to see it too. If you saw a cluster of vehicles off in the distance, it was a safe bet that they were all looking at a predator.

Here's a photo to give you an idea of what it looked like with the cheetah and how close the vehicles were to it: