Cheetahs Of The Serengeti

This is a beautiful Cheetah family. The mother of the three cubs (the cat in the middle) was named Queen by the locals. The BBC film makers and researchers told us a very interesting story about this family. Normally cheetah cubs leave their mother after 18 months. These three cubs had been with their mother (Queen) for three years. The researchers told us this was very unusual. They only had a theory as to why the cubs had stayed. They told us Queen was getting old and having a harder time hunting and catching prey. The researchers believed the cubs had stayed to help their mother hunt and therefore live longer. They had witnessed the cubs hunt and bring food back to Queen. There was a deep affection the cubs had for their mother. No one knows if this is the reason they stayed but, in any case, it demonstrates how complex these beautiful creatures are and how their behavior can defy and surprise people who have been studying them for years. Cheetahs are my favorite big cat. They are so elegant and graceful I can’t help but be deeply moved when I see them. The speed at which they can move is truly astonishing. What an empty place our world would be without them.