The greater kudu of eastern and southern Africa are browsers, and eat leaves and shoots. In dry seasons they eat wild watermelons and other fruit for their liquid content and natural sugars. Male kudus can be found in bachelor groups, but they are more likely to be solitary, and are usually seen with females only in the mating season, when they join in groups of 5–15 kudus, including offspring. Calves grow quickly and at six months are largely independent of their mothers. Predators, such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, hyenas, crocodiles and sometimes pythons, hunt adult kudu or their young.