Your Best Chances of Spotting Cheetah in Namibia

Cheetahs are the fastest land animal. Their slender body and long legs make it easy for them to maintain a high speed over a short distance, but they are known to reach speeds of up to 200km/h. The majority of these spotted cats can be found in Africa, mostly in the wild and countries like Namibia with its wide, open space is no exception. With their high speed and ability to blend into their natural environment, it’s no easy task to spot them. Car rentals in Namibia are a great option for a self-drive experience to spot cheetah – the best way to do it!

Places to see cheetahs

In recent times, the cheetah population has been decreasing and they have been disappearing from a lot of regions where they could previously be found in the wild. However, they can still be found across South Africa and countries like Namibia, for instance, have a high density of these wild cats. Similarly, Botswana is home to the world’s second-largest population of cheetahs, after Namibia.

Make use of daylight

Even though cheetahs are cats, and have excellent eyesight at night, they are very active during the day. This is when they hunt. Because of their camouflaged color, they are more visible in the day and can mostly be found in dry, tall grass making them hard to spot. Therefore, you have a better chance of spotting a cheetah during the day.

Open drylands

Cheetahs are fierce hunters and their meals are primarily meat-based. For optimum speed to catch and kill prey, cheetahs hunt in wide, open dry grasslands. This is also advantageous for disguising themselves, so they are not seen by prey. For these reasons, you want to keep a close eye on open, dry grassland to spot a cheetah.

Climate

For maximum results when spotting cheetah, the climate has to be considered. They prefer a habitat with a dry climate. Dry to arid conditions give cheetah the protection to seek inhabitants and shade without providing prey with a place to hide.

Reading footprints

There are tools that are used to capture and identify types of footprints. These can be used to let you know whether or not cheetahs exist in a particular area.

Patience

Cheetah are highly intelligent and will not willingly give away their position if they can help it. They are excellent at camouflage, mostly for hunting purposes. You have to demonstrate a high level of patience when out to spot a cheetah.