Satisfaction

Life is sweet when your family is fed.

Terrible as it sounds, everyone secretly wants to see a kill. We had that rare privilege. The whole preceeding sequence lasted about half an hour or more.

It was simply extraordinary to witness the cheetah mother spring into action, cut a baby gazelle from the herd, and tutor her cubs in the art of hunting. We witnessed the whole event,from beginning to end. In the way of cats, the mother cheetah would grab the gazelle by the neck & carry it around, then release it and let her babies stalk it, then catch it again herself. She did this for quite a while before finally delivering the coup de grace.

On the other hand, it was heart-wrenching to watch the mama gazelle try to lure the cheetahs away from her baby. Bleating piteously, she put herself in harm's way to try to save her baby, but to no avail. Joshua said she would mourn her lost baby for a long time.

But at the same time, carnivores must eat to live, and the baby cheetahs are equally adorable.