"Search and Selection"
Early morning in the Phinda Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, these
two Cheetah brothers climbed into a large tree and settled down comfortably to survey
the scene to search for and select suitable prey to pursue.
Cheetah - Acinonyx jubatus
The Cheetah is a cat with a greyhound chassis that is built for speed. It is light-boned, sway-backed, with long thin legs, a short neck and weighing between 35 and 65 kg. Its coat is tawny with small solid black spots, white underparts, black and white ringed outer-tail, black ear-backs, lips, nose and distinctive "tear stains". Hunting Cheetahs employ several strategies to approach antelopes, depending on terrain, species and behaviour of the animals. Although top speed is an incredible 112 km/h, a Cheetah can only sprint 300 m before rising temperature and oxygen debt force it to quit.
Average speed during a chase is around 64 km/h.
Nikon D3, 12.1 megapixel resolution, FX format, AF VR-Nikkor 200-400 mm f4G lens with
Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E11 1.4x, focal length 280 mm 1/125th sec @ f5.6, ISO 400,
Nikon SB-900 Speedlight for fill flash
Photograph by Trevor Woodburn