This Prey Is So Large It Takes Five Cheetahs To Take It Down

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There are many videos on the internet from Africa that share a predator taking prey down singlehandedly. And while animals such as lions, hyenas, and cheetahs are part of groups, they are very capable of taking prey down by themselves. However, in the case of the video posted above, a band of cheetahs came together and quite viciously took one animal down. And while this might seem completely ruthless, this is the way of survival in the wild.

Viewer discretion advised: This video contains graphic content of prey being viciously devoured. Video may not be suitable for young viewers, or those who are sensitive to animal violence.

Cheetah’s Hunting in the Maasai Mara

The YouTube video posted at the top of the blog post brings us to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, Africa. This vast wildlife conservation houses many of the African favorites such as lions, cheetahs, leopards, buffalo, hyenas, African wild dogs, giraffes, and elephants.

Cheetah Brothers Unite Against Prey

At the video’s start four cheetahs are attempting to take a massive wildebeest down. We see from the title of the video that these cheetahs are referred to as brothers. However, they are not biological brothers according to the video description. They are just known as the five brothers of the Maasai Mara.

According to the Cheetah Conservation Fund, “Male siblings remain together for the rest of their lives, forming a group known as a coalition. Coalitions increase hunting success and act as a defense against other predators.”

We can see the difficulty that these four cheetahs had to try and take this gigantic wildebeest down, and so a fifth one quickly comes to aid. He leaps up on the back of this wildebeest. And then they all successfully take their prey down.

What Predators Hunt Wildebeest?

As we can see from the video posted above, wildebeest are not easy animals to take down. These mammals can weigh anywhere from 300-600 pounds. They have a heavy front end that we will often see them use to their advantage to buck predators off.

The Public Broadcasting System shares that “Lions, spotted hyenas, leopards, African wild dogs, and cheetahs all prey on young wildebeests.” The young are susceptible to the violence of many predators as they have little ability to fight back.

Adult wildebeest are able to use not only their size to get away but also their incredible speed of 50 miles per hour. However, even with that speed, they are still no match for that of the cheetah, the world’s fastest land predator that can run up to 70 miles per hour. And as we can see from the video above, even this massive wildebeest was not able to withstand a coalition of cheetahs working together.