Cheetah

All of my life I’ve been a massive fan of the Cheetah. It has a much tougher life in the wild than the Lion or Leopard. It doesn’t have the company and protection of a large pride or a dominant male. It cannot climb trees to escape other threats from large predators like stealing hyenas. It is destined to hunt in the heat of the African sun, and most of it (baring small bachelor groups) will be done alone. However, having just returned from my first Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP) trip in South Africa, I have seen first-hand how effective they can be. Over the next month, I will load many more Cheetah photos showing the prowess of two mothers (with cubs) that hunted along the road between Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata camps.

I also regularly encountered two brothers that hunted together. Although I never witnessed them on a kill, I got one of my favourite cheetah photos of them. Below is an image that I had visualised before even setting foot in the Kalahari. I wanted a cheetah or Lion disappearing over the top of the dunes with the blue sky behind. Job done

Male Cheetah: Canon 1D Mark IV, EF 500mm, f/4, 1/8000sec, ISO400

If you loved liked this photo, have a look at the Cheetah Hunt article I did.

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