On a safari the sighting most guaranteed to cause even the most stone-hearted to gasp in awe is that of a young animals, especially cubs. Whilst Lion cubs are not that difficult to see, every time I do I am struck by the wonder of nature.
A number of species vie for the title of cutest - the fluff ball Emperor Penguin chicks on the ice of Antarctica; the unbelievably cute and helpless baby Harp Seals in the St. Lawrence River basin in Canada; a two-day old African Elephant huddling against its mother; the liquid eyes of young Elephant Seals on South Georgia, in the South Atlantic; even the near hairless Spotted Hyaena pup belies the charisma that will fade with age.
And of course, Cheetah cubs: on my first-ever safari to Kenya in 1998, the first close sighting I had was of a mother Cheetah with two little ones - from that moment on, my life began to change. Having always been interested in photography, primarily dallying with black-and-white in college, this encounter ignited the slow match that has caused me to travel the globe in search of newer, better and bigger wildlife images. The irony of this first encounter is that despite visiting 12 countries and over 30 Reserves and National Parks over more than 13 years, I have never again been that close to such small Cheetah cubs. But I'm not giving up yet - there is always the next drive and just around the next corner...
Note that all the images in this gallery are of wild animals in their natural environment. And as with all the main galleries, I have chosen to show them in random order rather than thematically or chronologically.
Hover over the image to view a thumbnail or click to see the full image.
TIP: Once viewing an image, to move to the next/previous, either use the left/right arrow keys or click the mouse on the left/right of the image.
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