大象传媒

A pair of male cheetahs walk through the wildebeest herd as if assessing them, but the wildebeest are not very concerned at first.

Perhaps they know by the way the cheetahs are behaving that they are not about to attack just yet.

Then, one cheetah makes a tentative run at the herd. Bending his supple spine, he can cover an astonishing 23 feet in a single bound.

It may be that by chivvying the wildebeest in this way the cheetahs hope to reveal one that is slower and more vulnerable than the others.

Finally the cheetah chases, brings down, and kills a wildebeest. He kills it by clenching his jaws on its windpipe and throttling it. The other male comes to share the meat. Cheetahs rarely tackle prey larger than themselves.