Watch the extremely brutal moment a duiker cries for help in the dying moments of its life, as a cheetah makes the kill.
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This rare sighting was filmed by Zandri White, 27-year-old guide at AndBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, while she was on her way home.
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Zandri tells LatestSightings.com the story: “It was a rainy afternoon and I was returning home along the main road that runs through the reserve. I spotted movement in my peripheral view off the road and slowed down when I noticed a female cheetah and her cub.
She suddenly started trotting across the road up ahead of me and within seconds increased her speed to a run. She disappeared in some long grass on the opposite side of the road and seconds later reappeared on the road holding a common duiker in her mouth!”
“She seemed to struggle to get a good hold of it, as the wet clay soil on the road was quite slippery underneath her feet. The cries of the common duiker seemed to encourage her to work even harder to silence it as it could potentially attract the attention of other predators in the area. It was interesting to see how she tried to use her body weight to pin the duiker down and how it retaliated by kicking back at her soft belly with its sharp little hooves when it got a chance.”
“There was a moment where the duiker nearly slipped out of her grasp indicating how hard it was really kicking her. It took at least 6 minutes for the little antelope's body to finally go limb, longer than one would expect, but he put up a good fight! At the end of the video, you can see her dragging the little antelope a little closer to where she left her cub and you can also hear her calling to it.”
“It all happened so quickly and I couldn't believe my luck! She managed to successfully catch the little antelope so quickly and right in front of me. Once she pulled it onto the road it was hard not to feel sorry for the little antelope as it cried fighting for its life. But at the same time, I felt happy and excited for her as she managed to get some food for her and her cub. There was a point where I started to get worried that nearby predators might hear the cries of the Duiker and potentially steal her food from her. Luckily she and her cub were seen again later that afternoon with full bellies.”
“The sighting ended as he pulled the little antelope further down the road closer to where her cub was hiding in the long grass. She started calling back to her cub and it came to feed immediately whilst mom took a moment to catch her breath.”
“I have been lucky enough to see a few Cheetah kills during my time as a guide at Phinda. This one was really unique in that the take down of the Duiker happened so quickly yet to kill it took such a long time. Usually, when Cheetah catch something slightly larger like an impala or nyala, they don't make too much noise and the animal is killed relatively quickly. Yet, in this case, a small antelope put up a big fight.”
“If anyone else is lucky enough to witness a kill like this, try to watch it and appreciate nature at its finest. It won't always be easy to watch but you will probably never see anything like it again. Some people spend years on safari to experience interactions like this."
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