Cheetah are one of my favorite animals to find while leading safaris in Africa. They are the fastest land animal. Their slim body, long legs, light weight, and extremely big tail are all built for maximum speed. Usually they stalk their prey until the final mad dash, where they try to trip them at top speed, before biting on to their throats to suffocate them.
However, it is not easy to find these graceful predators. There are only around 7,000 cheetah left in the world. The could be the face of all the endangered animals. And what a face it would be. I love the way their faces look painted with black mascara lines. They are truly something amazing to see in the wild.
This was one of my favorite cheetah moments ever. Deep in the Serengeti, we came across a momma cheetah with four small babies. They were only a month old, emerging from the den for the first time. I had never seen cheetah babies this small before. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The mom slinked through the grass, going from tall mound to tall mound. Each time the babies would follow, and regroup around her... almost posing for my camera.
It is possible that the mom was looking for food. But it is just as possible that she was looking out for other predators. Baby cheetah are very much in danger of falling prey to hyenas and lions. We were only allowed to stay with the cheetah family for so long, so the area wouldn't get overcrowded with vehicles. I wish I could have stayed with them forever.
I'll be back in this area in a few weeks. So I will be looking for this family to see how much they have grown.
Lake Zone, Tanzania
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