INTERLUDE

This cheetah was in the Amboseli Game Reserve at the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro. She probably gave birth to more than just one cub but the mortality rate for young cheetahs is high. Vulnerable and unprotected when the mother must leave them to hunt, they often fall easy prey to hyena or lion. The opposite extremes of mood action shown by the big cats is fascinating. At full stretch, the cheetah's sheer power and perfection of movement are exciting and breathtaking but in repose the animal can drape itself into an apparently boneless attitude of total and utter relaxation. This cub has given its mother little chance to relax. Her rather bored expression possible reflects her feelings after junior has scragged, pounced on and worried her unmercifully.