What are the natural enemies of ostriches?

The ancestor of ostrich is also a kind of bird that can fly. Its running ability is very amazing. Its sprint speed is more than 70km per hour. There are few natural enemies in the animal world. The most important natural enemies are lions and cheetahs. Let's take a look at these natural enemies of ostrich!

Lion

The biggest natural enemy of ostriches in Africa is lions, but lions rarely attack ostriches. Most of the time, lions prefer elephants and giraffes, which are more risky, than hunting ostriches. The main reason is that ostriches run very fast, have strong endurance, and often live in groups.

cheetah

Cheetahs are carnivores. Their prey is mainly small and medium-sized ungulate animals, including Thomson gazelle, Gorge's gazelle, impala, wildebeest, etc. When food is scarce, they will also attack zebras. Ostriches are also common prey objects of cheetahs. The cheetah sneaks up to a distance of 10 to 30 meters from its prey and hunts it at speeds up to 120 kilometers per hour, landing on only one foot, but running for up to three minutes, beyond which the cheetah is programmed to slow down or die of overheating. Cheetahs usually hunt their prey in less than a minute, and if they fail, it will be a waste of energy.

There was once a very interesting report that cheetahs chased ostriches by mistake and were "hit back". Cheetahs, which usually did not prey on ostriches, made a mistake this time. It was wrong to chase ostriches. The cheetah, which made the second big mistake, was then "counterattacked" by the ostrich and had to flee with its tail between its legs.

Other natural enemies

Adult ostriches have few natural enemies, but there are many predators in the desert who like to steal ostrich eggs. Therefore, nests guarded by adult birds are easily visited by natural enemies. For example, Egyptian bald eagles will throw stones at eggs to break egg shells up to 2mm thick. Even if eggs are guarded by adult birds, there are natural enemies such as hyenas and jackals. Therefore, less than 10% of eggs will hatch during the three-week spawning period and the incubation period of about six weeks.