Lead
In the African savannah, we often see herds of cheetahs chasing a wild animal, but in a BBC show, cheetahs chase an ostrich, a predation that is considered rare in science.
We all know that ostriches are huge, is it very difficult for cheetahs to hunt ostriches at the same time?
Adult ostriches can reach a maximum height of 2.8 meters and weigh about 150 kilograms.
Perhaps the cheetah can't kill an ostrich, but why do lions, as apex predators, rarely hunt ostriches?
Can the speed of an ostrich shake off a lion?
Or is the ostrich so big that the lion can't beak at all?
The size of the ostrich.
The height of the adult ostrich bird is between 2.2~2.8 meters, and the weight is about 100 kg to 150 kg.
Because in the grasslands of Africa, where ostriches live, cheetahs and lions are almost all apex predators.
Adult ostriches are 2.2~2.8 meters tall, which is a very scary size, and even about to catch up with tigers, weighing about 100 kilograms, if the ostrich can stand up, it has about the same height and weight as a lion.
While the ostrich is very adaptable, able to run up to 70 kilometers per hour in a short time, the ostrich is even faster than the cheetah, and the first weapon of the adult ostrich is its large size and powerful attack.
The muscles of the ostriche's legs are very well developed and powerful, and the ostrich's claws are sharp enough and long enough to reach about 10 centimeters, which are enough to break the cheetah's life if it attacks the cheetah.
And adult ostriches all have parents, ostriches are not like what we see on TV, it will put its eggs on the sand, and it doesn't matter after hatching the baby ostriches, but the parents will hatch the eggs together, and the incubation time is about 42 days.
Ostrich eggs each weigh about 3 pounds, ostrich a nest of eggs almost about 15, so the weight of a nest of eggs is about 45 pounds, ostrich parents will take turns to sit on the eggs, constantly turn over the eggs, generally birds will hatch 1~2 nests, and ostriches hatch 3 to 4 nests a year, so that the ostrich can hatch 150 to 300 eggs per year, not surprised, not surprised.
Ostriches are very alert, male ostriches will generally stand on a high place to observe the surrounding environment, female ostriches will observe the surrounding environment when incubating eggs, make sounds through chirping, once there is danger, will quickly run away or kick with their legs, in order to protect the life of the little ostrich.
The vigilance and certain combat ability of ostriches make it more difficult for carnivores such as lions and cheetahs to hunt, and the ostrich is so large in size, after research, it has been found that the number of times lions prey on adult ostriches is very small, but the number of times they prey on small ostriches is more, the chicks are small, and very bulky, very easy to catch, and the young birds are not aggressive, they are easy to capture.
Ostriches have a strong ability to survive.
Ostriches are very intelligent animals, they are very capable of survival, ostriches are able to grow to a height of two meters eight and are so large that they can become food for lions and even cheetahs.
But ostriches do not become food for predators, and in the African grasslands, lions are often seen preying on other animals, but the number of ostriches that lions prey on is not very large.
This shows that ostriches are very smart birds, on the one hand, ostriches have a very strong running ability, when the ostrich runs, the legs occupy almost half of the height, so the ostriche's legs are very strong, and have a very strong strength.
Moreover, the claws of the ostrich are very sharp, which is very rare among birds, and the ostrich is a large bird, and once the inertia increases, the force will also be very large.
Ostriches can jump with a force of up to 225 kilograms, enough to interrupt the lives of predators, and the ostriche's ability to survive allows them to survive in the animal kingdom.
The ostrich can accelerate to 70 kilometers per hour in a very short time, and the head and eyes will be subject to the following target when running, so that the ostrich can find the danger and the target when running, the muscles of the ostrich are easily injured when running, the ostrich generally walks in a soft place or grass, which can protect the legs well, and the ostrich is very smart.
Ostrich's survival strategy.
The reason why ostriches are afraid of trees is because birds in trees warn of the danger of predation by the sound of chirping, so ostriches rarely see trees in the wild.
When ostriches run and escape, they can only accelerate to 70 km/h for a short period of time, but when ostriches run for a short time, they will start to run short of breath after a while, so they are generally used to run short distances when they run.
Ostriches are also very alert, and generally will spot predators first and make an escape action, while the parents of the ostrich will pretend to be injured to attract the target of the predator, so that the little ostrich can escape smoothly and protect the safety of the little ostrich.
One of the things that parents do when an ostrich is threatened by a lion is to attract the attention of predators so that the baby ostrich can escape from the dangerous environment.
The vigilance of the ostrich, the ability to escape quickly, coupled with the very aggressive legs, for the predator, this creates a difficulty in hunting, so the chances of the cheetah and lion preying on the ostrich are very small, but it is very easy to prey on the small ostrich, and the ostrich and the small ostrich are not aggressive.
Because baby ostriches are not aggressive and insensitive, they become food for predators, and cheetahs and lions choose to hunt baby ostriches as simple as that.
epilogue
Ostriches are huge, and in the African savannah, lions and cheetahs generally do not choose to hunt adult ostriches, and even three cheetahs may not be able to beat an adult ostrich.
The ostriche's alertness and quick escape ability, as well as its powerful attacks, make it difficult for lions and cheetahs to become predators for adult ostriches, so when faced with adult ostriches, lions and cheetahs generally choose to give up.
As the second largest bird in the world, ostriches are very capable of surviving their ability to survive by choosing a way that suits them, attracting targets from predators, and successfully protecting their chicks.