Cheetahs of the Serengeti Plains: Group Living in an Asocial Species

This book reports a long-term behavioral study of free-ranging cheetahs, with extensive coverage of reproduction and development. The author documented female ranging and mating, the formation of male coalitions that defend territories to gain mating access, and the demanding maternal care that mothers provide to litters. Detailed records of cub survival revealed extraordinarily high mortality on the open plains, driven largely by lion and hyena predation at the den. The study also examined how cubs acquire hunting skills before independence and how subadults disperse. By combining individual life histories with measures of reproductive success, the work became a definitive account of cheetah mating systems, parental investment, and juvenile development in the wild.