Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Assalammualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
dan Selamat Sejahtera,
Spending quality time with big
cats in the wild was one of my goals for
this trip and Tanzania did not disappoint. It is striking how similar the thirty-eight
cat species are: Enlarge a domestic housecat and you have a leopard, elongate it for a speed to yield a cheetah, add a mane
and roar to
build a lion and so on.
Researchers
believe that all but a few of the world's cheetah
died in an ice age 10,000
years ago. The population bred up and there were
about 100,000 cheetahs, possibly all descended from a single female, in 1900. Today, there are around
12,000 with 10% in captivity. Due to the expansion of humans and illegal hunting,
the range of the cheetah is now limited to portions of sub-Saharan Africa.
The
greater Serengeti ecosystem contains between 1000 and 2000
cheetahs, the second largest surviving population. While cheetahs are
active during the day and are not rare in the
Serengeti, they can be hard to spot lying low in the grass. We were lucky to get so
close to these cheetah cuties.
This
streamlined cat is built for
speed: special paw pads and semi-retractable claws provide exceptional
traction, large nostrils and lungs provide quick air intake
and the
long heavy tail acts as a rudder for stability. But this intense
speed is taxing, they can only maintain their top
speed of 115 km/h for about 300 metres.
A
cheetah's hunt begins as a long stalk followed by a
short burst of their fabled speed. They bring quarry down by tripping
it. Then, like other cats, cheetahs go for the throat: they
clamp down with their jaws. The exhausted prey quickly dies from lack of
oxygen.
Cheetahs
have been kept captive for thousands of years as they
have a tendency to tameness. They were a preferred pet of royalty since the days
of the pharaohs.
These
two (probably brothers in "coalition"), like most of the
big cats we got close to, acted like they had eaten recently. Nonetheless, Spice
was
nervous while posing for this picture; she knows that big male cats will kill the young of other cats.
King of the beasts is
misleading since
female lions do most
of the hunting while the males laze around. Male lion's bulk and conspicuous
manes reduce their stealth and hunting ability. Once the females, often
employing strategic ambushes, bring down prey, the males
shove the lionesses and cubs aside and eat their fill. On second thought,
this is rather kingly behaviour.
While cats have prospered all over the world through millions of years of change, all big cat species are now threatened. Lions have been eradicated from most of their former range, including Europe, the Middle East and almost all of India. The lions of sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated in parks and reserves, are not considered endangered. Lions are the most socialable and co-operative of all cats which may help them survive. The Serengeti is home to about 3,000 lions, the largest concentration of big cats in the world.
Lions are primarily nocturnal but easy to find lying around during the day.
Lions spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping and "conserving energy".
Communal hunts usually take place early and late at night; but lions can become
active any time, day or night, hungry or gorged, when easy opportunities to
catch prey arise.
The
Serengeti lion population
has been relatively stable except for a canine distemper
virus epidemic in 1994 which killed one in three lions. The virus entered the Serengeti
via the many domestic dogs kept in villages surrounding the park. Disease transmission from
domestic dogs also infected the wild dogs of the Serengeti, which were wiped
out in the early 1990s.
The
ever
vigilant Athumani, who showed us a scar on his arm where he
had been gouged by a lion cub years ago, scans the horizon while posing
for this picture. Accredited guides in Tanzania are highly trained professionals
who attend refresher courses every year. It really does not look good for them when a
client gets eaten. Animal attacks are not common, however. Car
crashes pose a greater danger.
Of the three great cats of Africa, leopards (sometimes called panthers) are the most elusive. The leopard has been called the quintessential cat: "secretive and silky smooth, a solitary (the only exceptions are mating and mothering) animal of the darkness."
The
best way to find a leopard is to look for the distinctive tail hanging over a
branch. Camouflage spots mimic the dappling of shadow and light of the shaded
areas preferred by leopards.
Smaller than lions, leopards are bigger, stronger and slower than
cheetahs. Leopards use this strength to drag prey high into trees for safekeeping.
With a range that still
stretches from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Pacific Coast of Asia,
leopards are the most widely distributed great cat.
While classified as endangered, they have proven more adaptable in the
face of human expansion than cheetahs, lions or tigers.
Researchers
believe that all but a few of the world's cheetah
died in an ice age 10,000
years ago. The population bred up and there were
about 100,000 cheetahs, possibly all descended from a single female, in 1900. Today, there are around
12,000 with 10% in captivity. Due to the expansion of humans and illegal hunting,
the range of the cheetah is now limited to portions of sub-Saharan Africa.
The
greater Serengeti ecosystem contains between 1000 and 2000
cheetahs, the second largest surviving population. While cheetahs are
active during the day and are not rare in the
Serengeti, they can be hard to spot lying low in the grass. We were lucky to get so
close to these cheetah cuties.
This
streamlined cat is built for
speed: special paw pads and semi-retractable claws provide exceptional
traction, large nostrils and lungs provide quick air intake
and the
long heavy tail acts as a rudder for stability. But this intense
speed is taxing, they can only maintain their top
speed of 115 km/h for about 300 metres.A
cheetah's hunt begins as a long stalk followed by a
short burst of their fabled speed. They bring quarry down by tripping
it. Then, like other cats, cheetahs go for the throat: they
clamp down with their jaws. The exhausted prey quickly dies from lack of
oxygen.Cheetahs
have been kept captive for thousands of years as they
have a tendency to tameness. They were a preferred pet of royalty since the days
of the pharaohs. These
two (probably brothers in "coalition"), like most of the
big cats we got close to, acted like they had eaten recently. Nonetheless, Spice
was
nervous while posing for this picture; she knows that big male cats will kill the young of other cats.King of the beasts is
misleading since
female lions do most
of the hunting while the males laze around. Male lion's bulk and conspicuous
manes reduce their stealth and hunting ability. Once the females, often
employing strategic ambushes, bring down prey, the males
shove the lionesses and cubs aside and eat their fill. On second thought,
this is rather kingly behaviour.
While cats have prospered all over the world through millions of years of change, all big cat species are now threatened. Lions have been eradicated from most of their former range, including Europe, the Middle East and almost all of India. The lions of sub-Saharan Africa, concentrated in parks and reserves, are not considered endangered. Lions are the most socialable and co-operative of all cats which may help them survive. The Serengeti is home to about 3,000 lions, the largest concentration of big cats in the world.
Lions are primarily nocturnal but easy to find lying around during the day.
Lions spend up to 20 hours a day sleeping and "conserving energy".
Communal hunts usually take place early and late at night; but lions can become
active any time, day or night, hungry or gorged, when easy opportunities to
catch prey arise.
The
Serengeti lion population
has been relatively stable except for a canine distemper
virus epidemic in 1994 which killed one in three lions. The virus entered the Serengeti
via the many domestic dogs kept in villages surrounding the park. Disease transmission from
domestic dogs also infected the wild dogs of the Serengeti, which were wiped
out in the early 1990s.
The
ever
vigilant Athumani, who showed us a scar on his arm where he
had been gouged by a lion cub years ago, scans the horizon while posing
for this picture. Accredited guides in Tanzania are highly trained professionals
who attend refresher courses every year. It really does not look good for them when a
client gets eaten. Animal attacks are not common, however. Car
crashes pose a greater danger.
Of the three great cats of Africa, leopards (sometimes called panthers) are the most elusive. The leopard has been called the quintessential cat: "secretive and silky smooth, a solitary (the only exceptions are mating and mothering) animal of the darkness."
The
best way to find a leopard is to look for the distinctive tail hanging over a
branch. Camouflage spots mimic the dappling of shadow and light of the shaded
areas preferred by leopards.
Smaller than lions, leopards are bigger, stronger and slower than
cheetahs. Leopards use this strength to drag prey high into trees for safekeeping.
With a range that still
stretches from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Pacific Coast of Asia,
leopards are the most widely distributed great cat.
While classified as endangered, they have proven more adaptable in the
face of human expansion than cheetahs, lions or tigers.
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