Cheetah

Fabulous

Yes they can get up to like 60MPH in a couple seconds. Because they burst with such speed, they can only go for about 15 seconds before they tire out. The are fun to watch hunting, but you feel so bad when they miss since they are exhausted from the chase.

Cheetahs are my most favorite African animal. Actually my favorite overall except for maybe the Snow Leopard (elsewhere in the world). I use to love running and they run so fast. Aren't they the fastest land animals? SPEED! Lovely photos!

Yes, amazing & lucky !!! I have been to Africa many times, and only my last 2 trips I got really great photos, my favorites being of Zwadi. She is easy to spot since she has a black necklace marking around her neck. You can see it pretty good in the close-up of her face that I have posted with the lying in the tree shot.

I missed that Zwadi is a leopard! Now a leopard up that close would be amazing! :)

I am pretty sure it's just the cheetahs that jump on Landrovers, not Zwadi. I have not seen it, but know many that have been lucky to have a cheetah jump on the car they are in. They use the car like a mound so they can stake out the surroundings. Also, when it is chilly in the morning they like the warmth of the engine so they sit on the hood too. There are a few cheetahs that do that in the Mara triangle section of the park. Very cool !!!

I wonder if Zwadi was the female that used to leap up onto the roof of his Landrover? 14 is an incredible age for any wild animal.

Yes Karen, I know the Big Cat Diaries series and have caught many of them on one of my cable channels, and have seen it when I am in London. I have gotten to know Jonathan Scott a bit since I constantly run into him when I am in the Mara while he was filming Big Cat Diaries. It is a wonderful series. They have had some pieces on Zwadi, a pretty famous female leopard in the Mara, and I have some nice shots of her in Noah collection. She is AMAZING and is still alive now at age 14.

great capture, they look to have had a huge meal not to long before this picture was taken, seen the size of their bellys :)

Yes everything I have prior to 2007 was 35mm too! I've scanned a few but the quality just doesn't measure up!
There is a fantastic TV series every year in the UK called Big Cat Diaries, following specific lions, leopards & cheetahs in the Mara. I'm not sure if it is available in the US but you can view some clips here - http://www.bbc.co.uk/bigcat/archive.shtm... I think you will enjoy it.

You got that right Karen. The Cheetah cubs have such a low rate of survival in the wild. It is so great to see a mother with 3 or 4 healthy cubs, and very difficult for her to keep them all alive. I have some great photos from about 10 years ago with a mother and 4 small cubs. It was before digital, so I need to get a good scanner to get some good quality reproductions in digital form.

They are so much more successful when there are 3 of them. I feel very sorry for the females, it must be tough hunting on your own, especially with cubs.