Wildlife photographer Federico Veronesi shared a series of photos showing tiny gazelles approaching an adult female leopard just minutes after birth to feed in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. For a brief moment, the cheetah seemed to mistake the gazelle for its young and made various loving gestures such as rubbing its head.
Distracted by maternal love for a few minutes, the cheetah only realized its mistake when it saw the young gazelle trying to run away. Its hunting instincts aroused urges it to chase its prey and kill the antelope with a fatal bite.
The cheetah has the scientific name Acinonyx jubatus – a leopard of the Big Cat family known as the world’s fastest land mammal. With an aerodynamic body shape that combines long legs and a flexible spine, they can sprint at speeds of up to 112 kilometers per hour. Adult leopards have an average height of 77 cm at the shoulder, a length of 112 – 142 cm and a weight of 34 – 64 kg.
Cheetahs mainly feed on small to medium-sized animals such as antelope, rabbits, wild boar and birds. Cheetah hunting times are dawn and dusk. They spend a lot of time stalking before chasing their prey. They often hide the carcass of their prey after hunting to avoid the attention of vultures and hyenas.