70 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



from his back and possibly injuring it, as it seemed to 

 have made no further effort to pursue, and the waterbuck 

 dropped a couple of hundred yards further on from loss 

 of blood. 



A pair of chitas pulled down and killed a full-grown 

 tsessebe bull near Tshokwana in April 1909, but I think 

 both this case and that of the bull waterbuck were excep- 



CHITA CUBS 

 (Sabi Game Reserve) 



tional and I never heard of a full-grown individual of 

 the more formidable species, sable, roan, wildebeest, or 

 zebra, being interfered with. I do not think chitas care 

 much for carrion, at all events I never heard of their 

 eating it, and, from the manner in which they neglect 

 their own kills, it is probable that they prefer not only 

 to hunt their meat, but to eat it fairly fresh. 



Several cases of cannibalism have been known. In 

 1903, a native watcher, patrolling in the Game Reserve, 

 came, one evening, on two chitas fighting in a clearing 



