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Mama cheeta with 6 cubs! This cheeta mom must be the most patient and caring parent ever - cubs were playing around her head and suckling all the time when we were watching but she never once showed any annoyance. Truely amazing.

This series of images is another "National Geographic" moment that needs some explanation. The 11 folks on our photo Safari were divided among 4 safari vehicles...no more than 3 (plus the driver/guide) to a vehicle, so each photographer had access to each side of the vehicle. We were sometimes together, sometimes miles apart. Two of our vehicles spotted a distant Cheetah stalking 4 Grant's Gazelles. We could see the two vehicles about 1/4 mile away and we thought the Cheetah was perhaps headed toward us as the gazelles were moving toward us. Suddenly, from a long distance I saw the gazelles running fast though the tall grass and then I saw a cloud of dust. Three gazelles kept running but we did not see the 4th. The gazelles got 400-500 yards away then stopped to look back. The other vehicles told us the Cheetah had made a kill. When we got there the Cheetah had a small Grant's Gazelle by the throat while it still struggled a little. You could watch the Cheetah breathing heavily after its 5-8 second burst of speed to catch the gazelle. The Cheetah was a male and looked as if he needed a meal. We sat nearby for an hour as the Cheetah ate its fill. Just amazing to watch all this.

Serengeti National Park,
Tanzania
25 October 2018