Cheetahs might be classified as wild predators but this video of an African Cheetah exploring the inside of a safari car is pure curious cat.
The video clip was filmed in 2014 at the Masai Mara. It was posted online in February 2017. The wild cheetah walks over to the safari jeep and scopes out how many people are inside. He gives the surrounding area a good sniff and then hops into the safari jeep.
The 5 minute clip is made up of the wild cheetah checking out every aspect of the car, including the windscreen wipers. Even giving the passenger inside the safari jeep a good sniff a once over before moving on to another part of the jeep.
The cheetahs are part of a conservation project to ensure their survival from loss of habitat, an ecosystem under huge pressure and life-threatening conflict with humans.
“Based at the Tony Lapham Predator Hub, our flagship Mara Cheetah Project and Mara Lion Project have been at the forefront of predator conservation in the Greater Mara for a number of years now. Their research and monitoring work contributes to county and national strategies for protecting predators”
“A simple, efficient and highly functional base, the Predator Hub is located in Olare Motorogi Conservancy, adjoining the Maasai Mara National Reserve. It allows us, for the first time, to undertake long-term conservation-focused study of cheetah and lion together.”
The cheetah’s often interact with safari goer’s like in this video, they use the jeeps to get higher vantage points. They are also just genuinely curious. However it is always discouraged for any party to attempt to make contact with a cheetah.
Check out the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpADeugoPVo
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