Late one afternoon, we were in a safari vehicle in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya, looking for photo opportunities, when we came upon a cheetah mother with three large cubs out looking for prey. Cheetahs with cubs usually need to eat once daily.
Mother and Three Cubs on the Hunt. © D. M. DeKraker 
Three Cubs Frolicking © D. M. DeKraker 
Mother Cheetah Looking for Prey. © D. M. DeKraker
We followed them for a while, but lost track of them when they went over a ridge. We went around the ridge to find them again and saw that they had made a kill of an impala, their favorite prey. We parked near the kill. We noticed that they were not eating, but looking around. Nearby, a herd of topis were on alert, not grazing. This indicated that there must be a lion on the hunt. Sure enough, a lioness appeared in the distance.
Cheetahs with Kill, Not Eating © D. M. DeKraker 
Herd on Topi Looking Alert © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness on the Hunt Approaching in the Distance © D. M. DeKraker
Lions will kill cheetah cubs if they have the opportunity. The cheetahs ran off, abandoning their food. The lioness approached, spotting the cubs and gave chase.
Lioness Approaching the Cheetah’s Kill © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness Spotting Cheetahs © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness Pursuing Cheetah Cubs © D. M. DeKraker
The mother ran off to the side acting like she was injured. The lioness turned and chased after her instead of the cubs.
Lioness chasing the cheetah mom © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness Looking at Cheetah Mom © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness returning to get prey.
The mother easily ran ahead, and eventually the lioness realized she had been tricked. A full grown uninjured cheetah can outrun a lion. The lioness looked back for the cubs but they were nowhere in sight. The mother had saved her cubs.
The lioness, giving up on the cubs, returned to find the prey. The lioness took the cheetahs dinner, and they would not eat that night. We then followed the lioness with the prey until it disappeared into the bush, perhaps feeding it to her own cubs.
Lioness Approaching Prey © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness Carrying Prey © D. M. DeKraker 
Lioness Carrying Prey into Bus© D. M. DeKrakerh
The next morning we came across the cheetahs. They had made another kill and were getting their meal.
