  Amid the tall grasses and drifting shadows of the umbrellalike acacia trees, three cheetahs have risen to dominance at Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Presumed to be brothers, they are powerful and cunning — seasoned, scar-faced veterans of the killing fields. As seen in Life, they are even bold enough to challenge difficult and dangerous prey, such as the ostrich. But just what is going on behind the scenes in this stunning chase sequence?
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Watch "Cheetahs Hunt Ostrich"
HUNTING HIGHER PREY
Cheetahs depend on their speed. It is the one advantage they lord over all land animals. That advantage doubles as their greatest weakness. If an injury impairs the cheetah's ability to run, it impairs the big cat's ability to hunt and feed as well. To tackle dangerous prey is to risk injury and potential starvation, which is why cheetahs typically stick to hunting weaker animals, such as Thomson's gazelle. Even lions may shy away from the likes of the beisa oryx, with their horns.
But as "
Hunters and Hunted" episode producer Adam Chapman points out, the three brothers are not your typical band of cheetahs. They're physically larger and quite old for their species. Hunters typically mature by age 4 and live a mere 12 to 14 years. This trio, however, first entered the wildlife conservancy as adults nearly a decade ago. That longevity, Chapman stresses, is the key to their success.
"They've managed to devise strategies for surviving in actually quite a difficult area," Chapman said. "And one of their key strategies is to take any opportunity they can, including hunting fully grown ostriches. The absolute nub of that success is the fact that they cooperate with each other."
Working as a team, the three brothers pull down prey far larger and more dangerous than anything a lone cheetah would dare approach. Yet, their game-changing strategies are destined to die when they do.
"Male cheetahs have nothing to do with their offspring in terms of raising them," Chapman said. "The mother is entirely responsible for teaching the offspring to hunt. So really, it's just these three that we know of."
As for the possibilities of female cheetahs developing the hunting strategies on their own, Chapman said that the physically smaller female cheetahs lack the necessary size to develop and use such a strategy.
And so the three brothers will hunt until their end, the hard lessons of their wisdom etched in the talon scars on their faces.
Continue: Filming the Three Brothers
