Don’t play with your food! Baboon snatches baby gazelle off cheetah cubs after they catch it but have no idea how to kill it
- Three cheetah cubs were playing with a new born gazelle learning how to hunt
- The predators chased the fawn and were able to bring it to the ground
- But none of the six-month-old cheetahs knew how to rip the gazelle apart
- A large baboon bounded onto the scene in the Masai Mara and stole the gazelle
This is the moment a family of cheetah cubs surrounded a small gazelle, but lacked the killer instinct to rip it apart for lunch.
Instead, a large baboon bounded into view to carry off the tiny fawn.
The footage was captured by Laura Dyer in Kenya’s Masai Mara inside the Naboishio Conservancy.
These three cheetah cubs failed miserably to finish off this newborn gazelle after it was tracked down by their mother in Kenya’s Masai Mara
The cheetahs were supposed to use the fawn as hunting practice before killing and eating it
Instead, a hungry baboon, pictured, bounded across the scrubland and killed the fawn before carrying it off, leaving the cheetahs hungry
The unfortunate fawn had been tracked down by the cheetah’s mother who delivered it to her cubs as a learning exercise.
The six-month-old cubs were supposed to jump on the gazelle and rip it apart.
Instead they surrounded the smaller animal but failed to attack and kill it.
One of the cubs struck the gazelle with its paw, prompting it to run for its life. The three cheetahs followed in hot pursuit and were able to bring the fawn to the ground.
However, the three predators again failed to tear into the young gazelle. One of the cheetahs looked as if it was going to bite into its neck, but failed to lock its jaws.
Suddenly a large baboon chased off the three cheetahs and then hunted down the fawn.
This time, the fawn suffered a mortal wound to the neck and was carried lifelessly across the wildlife park in the jaws of the baboon.
The six-month-old cheetahs were able to catch up to the newborn fawn, but lacked the killer instinct
Several times it appeared that the cheetahs had figured out what was necessary to begin their meal but they failed to strike
The cheetahs surrounded the fawn which had been tracked down by their mother as a teaching aid
Ms Dyer said: ‘The cheetah cubs are just under six months old, and their mom caught this newborn baby Thomson’s gazelle for them to learn how to hunt on.
‘Of course, they haven’t any idea as this would be the first time they are participating in a hunt, so don’t know how to kill the gazelle.
‘This went on under mom’s watchful eye and shepherding for forty minutes or so until a massive male baboon saw the commotion and ran in, stealing the baby gazelle for himself.
‘Baboons do sometimes catch and kill prey, but it’s very unusual.’
Laura Dyer, who filmed the footage, said: ‘The cheetah cubs are just under six months old, and their mom caught this new born baby Thomson’s gazelle for them to learn how to hunt on’
At this moment, it appears the gazelle is doomed, but the cheetahs continue to prevaricate
The gazelle seemed resigned to its position on the food chain despite the incompetent cats
The baboon showed no such reticence and dispatched the gazelle with ruthless efficiency
Ms Dyer said it was unusual to see baboons claiming their own prey
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