Cheetahs have two tear lines that run from the inside corners of their eyes down to the outside edges of their mouth. These marks help reflect the sun’s glare whenever the cats are off hunting during the sunniest of days – in that way, cheetahs don’t get blinded by direct sunlight like we do, even in midday.
The tear lines work in a similar way to the black marks worn by rugby players. They’re also helpful features for the cheetah in order to stay focused on its prey.
There is a Zulu folklore tale about how the cheetah got its tear lines: once, a hunter was too lazy to be about his business, wishing that someone could get the meat for him. Soon, he saw a female cheetah making a successful kill and feeding it to her cubs, and all of a sudden decided to steal all these cubs in order to train them for hunting.
Soon, when the mother cheetah was away, the wicked hunter accomplished his terrible deed, kidnapping all the cubs without leaving a single one. Once the mother found her babies gone, she became heartbroken, searched for them far and wide, and kept calling and crying all day and night, so long and so hard, until her tears made dark stains down her cheeks.
Soon, the elders got wind of the event and went to punish the lazy hunter, who had also broken the tribe’s most sacred traditions – in Zulu culture, it’s tradition that a hunter must use only his own strength and skill, otherwise dishonor comes. But even when the wicked man was eventually forced to bring the cubs back to their mother, nevertheless her long weeping stained her face forever – and those tears are worn by her children (modern-day cheetahs) to this day.
According to the locals, this tale carries a moral: a cheetah wearing the tear stains on its face is a reminder for hunters that it is not honorable to hunt in a non-traditional, inconvenient way.
Credit : Quora
Picture Credit : Google