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Cheetah Stalking
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I recently drove for 9 hours to go visit Fota Wildlife Park. In case you don;t know, the Cheetah enclosures face an open area with Oryx, Zebra, Ostriches and Giraffes. When the Oryx and Zebra gallop about it totally gets the hunting instincts of the Cheetahs all worked up. It’s something else to watch.
They get into stalk mode (head down low staring) and then start sprinting, back and forth, in the enclosure, itching to chase.
The first shot really captures the majesty of this cat…..nice one :wink:
I like the first photo too.
The second one is good but miss the sharpness.Aiden love both of these especially No1 it is so natural looking (not that I have seen many cheetahs, but I did watch big cat week :lol:
SodaThe first one captures a real intensity .. plus its well composed and well taken. ( well i think so, but the closest to wildlife I’ve photographed is a hyperactive labrador :lol: )
Well Done
L
Brilliant shots joe. I particularly like the first one. It could be straight from Africa. I think the vegitation in the second gives it away thats its captive. You really captured the cheetah in its characteristic pose.
Thanks all! I was chuffed to get these. I’ve a “few” more to process. I love Fota Wildlife Park. It’s small and 9 hours of driving away but getting that close to my favourite cats is cool. The monkeys running free around the place (there were some small ones up a tree eating acorns and dropping them on people. The amount of birds. The place is a cool day out. Cork is lucky!
Oh, there’s Cheetah cubs there at the moment. Born in July. Never heard anything about it. it wasn’t even mentioned in the last Dublin Zoo magazine even though the Oryx were. They were tucked up in their den and weren’t coming out. Would _love_ to take some pictures of them.
Very nice photos Aidan especially when you consider that theres a nasty wire fence about 12feet high enclosing the Cheetas, the cubs are rarly out in Fota unles the weather is very warm, I have been there twice in the last 4 weeks and have yet to se them out.And if you were taking a 9 hour round trip you would want some just rewards.Is it possible to phone Fota and ask when i the best time to see them??? Might be worth a shot. How do you upload your photo into a messsage, I looked at the FAQ but it does not tell how? and does it have to be a certain size not to stretch the post? Thanks
Good thinking – I’m sure if they saw your shots you might be able to arrange a shoot there – better access and everything – maybe -if you offer them photos ??
Steelydan – You can find out about posting pics in this thread
https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=1118
L
Steelydan:
When you start a new topic or click on post reply you can do it.
First, your image must be available on a web server that can directly link. An example of such a site is photobox. I run my own web server at home so it’s easy enough for me.
In your message, paste in the URL that points directly to your JPEG. The select the entire URL and click on the “img” button at the top of the editor.
Sizing: the polite max sixe I’ve seen on most, if not all, forums is where the largest end of the photo is 800 pixels and the file is less than 200KB. I usually aim for around 100 unless I start to notice a big loss in the image.[/img]
Lorraine:
I might give that a try when I’ve got time and good weather…. the latter being a wee problem at the moment :-)Trying this image i took of the Cheeta last month
http://www.flickr.com/photos/81935527N00/249636872/
good image – very menacing posture – I’d crop that again in portrait style – placing the eyes on the lower thrid of the frame – you’ll have that small bit of vegetation in the shpt – but those eyes … wow
L
LoGill wrote:
good image – very menacing posture – I’d crop that again in portrait style – placing the eyes on the lower thrid of the frame – you’ll have that small bit of vegetation in the shpt – but those eyes … wow
btw you need to use the Img tags to show the picture though –
L
Wow is right. Very impressive, and very menacing.
This is what the Cheetah was attempting to do. This wild one ws in Lake Manyara (Tanzania) trying to hunt some impala. The head is low, flat with her back, and she slowly attempted to get withing 50 metres of her prey. She may be fast but she has limited staying power … she can overheat and cause herself brain damage if she sprints for too long. She crept for over an hour to get close but was out of luck when the prey entered the treeline for the night.
This one is actually a special cat. I reported her to Cheetah Watch (a conservation NGO in Tanzania) and they immediately responded with disbelief. She had migrated from her old stomping grounds in Tanzania across farmland (maybe 60-100 miles) and her migration was unprecedented. It’s a tribute to the new conservation efforts in Tanzania. It’s a rotten photo (100-400L, 1.4X and manula focus) but I love it because it’s got a success story attache to it.
In case you didn’t notice… I love Cheetahs!
With all the space in Fota, it would be fantastic if they could set up a larger area for the Cheetahs to simulate a chase. Africat and the CCF in Namibia have areas with a rope/pulley system where the Cheetah chases it’s food along the ground so it can get exercise. It’s great for education and to maintain the chase instinct in the cat…. although it may never be possible to release them because they have never learned from their mother how to choke their prey to death.
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