Cheetahs are impressively large cats, but they aren’t quite as large as the fabled lion. Their smaller stature means that they’re compelled to prey on smaller animals that they’re capable of taking down, but it’s possible for these zippy cats to bend the rules a little bit if they band together as a team.
Many don’t know this, but an adult ostrich can grow much taller than a cheetah and weigh up to twice as much. Furthermore, these massive birds are capable of killing a cheetah with a single kick delivered by their powerful legs. These circumstances are generally enough of a scare for a single cheetah to leave ostriches alone, but when working together, sometimes the risk can be worth the reward for the cat.
In this video, we see three hungry cheetahs chasing after a male ostrich. The female is seen running with the male, but when the male appears to out-pace the female, the opportunistic cheetahs switch targets to the slower female. With three big cats tugging her down, the female falls to the ground. She’s unable to deliver any self-defensive kicks to the cats because one of them is holding her by the neck.
These cheetahs have learned that there’s power in numbers, and these hunting tactics have earned them a large meal that will sustain them much longer than a smaller animal would have. Unfortunately, the male ostrich will have to find a new mate…
