When we spotted this leopardess on a tree with a warthog kill, we knew that it was our best chance to see her cubs.
And indeed, after waiting for six hours and following her, she walked to the cubs’ hiding place and walked them out of the bushes towards the kill. It was kind of funny to see her walking with pride and confidence, and to see the cubs like two undercover soldiers, crawling low to the ground and running from bush to bush so we wouldn’t see them.
Eventually she sat down on a rock, and one by one the cubs came to sit next to her. She didn’t feel threatened by us, so she showed us her back, but the cubs were so shy that we only got to see them clearly for no more than a couple of minutes.
I was aiming for this shot of the leopard’s tail “framing” one of the cubs and waited for her to flick her tail. After a few attempts, I got the shot I wanted.

By Yaron Schmid in aid of the Mara Elephant Project