Page 26 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #05

next to each other, sometimes even touching. “These
HOLDING ONTO YOUR KILL: coalition mates are very bonded to each other,” agrees
Laurie Marker, who is based in Namibia and has studied
WHEN WOULD A CHEETAH WIN? its relatively large cheetah population for decades. “If
separated, they do a lot of vocalisations to find each other,
Cheetahs are not built for fighting stocky predators such as leopards such as a dog-like bark and a bird-like chirp.” Because
or lions. Whether they can defend a carcass depends on how many making sounds can attract unwanted attention from
cheetahs are in the group and the species they’re faced with. other predators, the separated males also scent-mark
trees to alert their coalition mates.
MOTHER WITH YOUNG CUBS vs ONE SPOTTED HYEN 2
PURRFECT SOLUTION
MOTHER WITH OLDER CUBS vs ONE SPOTTED HYENA 8 It’s obvious that male cheetahs really like their coalition
buddies. When close, they will even purr like house
TWO MALE CHEETAHS vs ONE SPOTTED HYEN 8 2 cats. (Cheetahs and mountain lions are able to purr but

TWO MALE CHEETAHS vs ONE MALE CHEETAH 8 not roar, due to the anatomy of their throat. Larger cat
species – lions, tigers, leopards and jaguars – can’t purr,
ONE CHEETAH vs TWO JACKALS 2 though they can roar.) Cheetah purring is a clear sign of
contentment, much as with our domestic moggies.
ONE CHEETAH vs ONE LEOPARD 2 Once they have been together for a while, non-related
male cheetahs can also show loving behaviour to their
MANY CHEETAHS vs ONE LION 2 coalition members, and they may remain as a unit for
months or even years. “Cheetah coalitions are usually
very stable,” Laurie says, ”and the bond of brotherhood
Hyena–1, cheetah–0: in particular is permanent. Cheetah coalitions between
the felines can lose their brothers are formed for life.”
prey to other predators. Forming a coalition evidently pays dividends, but how
exactly does group-living affect hunting success? Contrary to
expectations, individual males do better when hunting alone
than in pairs, but become more likely to take down prey in
groups of three. At the moment, we are not sure why this is.
It could be down to the way that cheetahs hunt together.
Unlike lions and African wild dogs, cheetahs are not
cooperative hunters. That is, they don’t each have a Hyena: Den s-Huot/naturep .com; hunt ng:Andy Rouse/naturep .com;
specified role to play in the hunt, for example sprinting landscape: Vincent Gesser/NHPA/Photoshot; cub: Elliott Neep/FLPA
to chase prey, or pouncing to bring it down. But when
tackling a kudu or other larger prey species, a few
cheetahs are needed to kill the animal. So one holds
the head while the rest go for the belly. “Like adolescent
groups of cheetahs, all-male coalitions will go for larger
prey, such as older calves or yearling wildebeest, more
26 BBC Wildlife Spring 2018