This sequence was taken late last year in Kenya’s Masai Mara game reserve. The pictures pretty much tell the story so I’m keeping the text to a minimum. All the images were taken with a Canon 1D MK4 and a Canon 600mm f4 IS (version 1) lens.
Mother Cheetah spots a Thomson’s Gazelle fawn in the distance.
The mother slowly approaches the Gazelle fawn being careful not be seen. She uses the cover of some bushes and tall grass to get within 60-70m of the fawn. With the fawn facing away, the Cheetah bursts out from the bush, quickly accelerating.
The fawn spots the Cheetah too late and after the briefest of chases, she is tripped by the Cheetah who immediately is at its throat. But instead of dispatching the fawn, the Cheetah picks it up by its throat and carries it back to where its three young cubs are waiting nearby.
The mother then lets the fawn go and the cubs chase after it. They quickly catch up, trip it and pin the fawn down with their paws. However, they do not yet know how to kill it. So after a short while they release their grip and the terrified fawn bounds off again. This process goes on for the next fifteen minutes and follows the exact same pattern each time. It is very hard not to feel for the poor fawn and the whole encounter appears to reek of cruelty, but you have to keep reminding yourself that this exercise is a vital part of the Cheetah cubs’ training. Within 12-16 months, the mother will abandon the cubs and if they cannot hunt for themselves, then they have no chance of survival. I try to also console myself with the knowledge that while Gazelles are abundant in Africa, Cheetahs are endangered with just 12,000 left in the wild.
After patiently monitoring the whole episode from a distance, the mother eventually decides that enough is enough and jogs after the fawn, by now visibly slower after the mauling it has taken from the cubs. The end is mercifully quick and she carries the fawn back to the cubs. One small fawn between four Cheetahs amounts to no more than a light snack and the cubs are now at a size where the mother is being required to hunt every day.
After their brief meal, one of the cubs, its face flecked with blood from the meal, stands with its mother framing it nicely in the background.
Adeline McComb
May 21, 2013
Hi Paul,
Yet another set of awesome pictures!! The fawn’s struggle must have been horrific before she was finally killed, but this is the real world and to live they must hunt. Thank you for another awesome set of true lIfe pictures. I was in Kenya a few years ago and saw a mother cheetah lying under a tree playing happily with her cubs. A wee dik-dik ran silently past us. She must have heard something because she instantly transformed herself into a huntress, sprang into the air and flew after the dik-dik – with the cubs in hot pursuit. It wasn’t a huge meal but the cubs would have had lunch!
Thanks again – you are an awesome photographer!
Adeline McComb
Andy Diamond
May 22, 2013
Hi Paul,
Yes, I’ve seen this several times but never with the beautiful clarity that you have in your pictures and the all-important lighting up of the eyes with the sun behind you. Incredible action shot of the running mother, too. Just superb!
Paul Mckenzie
May 22, 2013
Many thx Andy for your kind words.
Arthur Morris
May 22, 2013
Amazing. My fave is the 7th one down….
Osvaldo Larrain L.
May 22, 2013
Hi Paul , wonderful photos full of action and telling a nice history of nature .
A hug and congratulations .
Paul Mckenzie
May 22, 2013
Hi Osvaldo. Hope all is well with you in Chile and that we will meet up again.
Verschueren
May 22, 2013
Hello Paul,
Yes this is live. Also these youngster needs to train and to learn to survive. Reality. One rule ‘Eat and be eaten’ Again you were at the right moment and the right time to be witness of this spectacle. A game to learn. Great shots and not bloody pictures. Well done.
Paul Mckenzie
May 22, 2013
Hi Yan. Am still very keen to do the Congo trip that we did a while back. Let me know if any plans. Thx, Paul.
Sandy
May 22, 2013
Wow, incredible photos! A nicely told story too about balancing a heart-wrenching scene with one focused on survival in the future. That little fawn is barely a snack for that family, but the lesson it helped to teach the cubs is worth far more. I’m so glad you share your photos and blog… I love every word and every photo!
Paul Mckenzie
May 22, 2013
Thx for stopping by to comment Sandy and for your generous praise
Gordon Lindsay
May 22, 2013
Paul this is an impressive series of images with just enough text explanation, “Nature; red in tooth and claw”