Camera: EOS 5DS R

Lens: 150-600mm F5-6.3

Aperture: 6.3

Shutter speed: 1/6400

ISO: 3200

Description: The Fast Five take down prey in their spectacular fashion.

Story from behind the lens: When your your prey is much bigger than you are, you have to adapt. These are 4 members of the "Fast Five" Cheetah Coalition in the Maasai Mara. I have photographed them many times and I started noticing their unique hunting tactics. Unlike the textbook cheetah tactic we see in documentaries, these cheetahs don't stalk then sprint to full speed. They have adapted to using their numbers to their advantage. Due to their small size, bigger prey is not so easily intimidated thus don't ran away immediately. So the fast five hunting strategy is like the lions'. They spread out and approach a group of animals from different directions, this causes confusion and before the prey realizes they are running straight towards the "striker". Sometimes they will each take turns chasing prey just like wild dogs, so as to tire them. In this image, they use the tiring tactic. They have completely immobilized the prey and you can see how strategic they are in gripping specific parts of the prey making it impossible for the wildebeest to move.