Animal videos are the best pick-me-ups ever. Whether it is the unlikely friendship between a baby monkey and a dog, the mating dance of hornbills or a primate washing clothes like a dhobi, we just can’t get enough of them.
According to India Today, Indian Forest Service officer and CEO of Chilika Development Authority (Odisha) Susanta Nanda recently shared a glimpse of a cheetah cub learning survival skills and it is adorable AF.
Learning early the sneaking skills for hunting👍🏻
Young Cheetah cub, still with the silver strip of fur called mantle running all the way down their back, trying to perfect the art of sneaking that makes them great hunters. pic.twitter.com/EL5qz9Wayp— Susanta Nanda IFS (@susantananda3) February 24, 2020
In the video, the cub is seen with a thick silvery-grey mantle down its back. This natural camouflage protects it from lions, hyenas, and eagles by giving it the appearance of a honey badger (one of the meanest, most fearless animals in the world).
It also shows the cub learning to hunt for prey. For the uninitiated, Cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animal but they cannot sustain high speeds for a long period of time. They generally stalk their prey, sneak up on them and kill them within 30 seconds.
Desi Twitter likened the cub’s movements to domestic cats and marvelled at the sneak peek into its early life.
https://twitter.com/GopanDeepa/status/1231964286538280960
My kittens also do the same 😍😍
— jaywalker (@chalotweetkaro) February 24, 2020
Wow…its amazing
— Dr. Karunendra Verma (@BuddhHans) February 24, 2020
Sir, you are so lucky to be in this profession. Always living with nature 😍
— Romantic टपु (@incredible_setu) February 25, 2020
😻😻😻😻
— kiki(Anaki)🌈🎸🧚♀️🧚♂️🐈🌹 (@Dreamwo86818554) February 24, 2020
Cheetahs are such wonderful creatures which is why it is disheartening to note that they have been listed as “Vulnerable” in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
We hope that their numbers increase in the future as they are an important part of the ecosystem.