This cheetah and her two cubs (there’s another one hiding in there somewhere) were just settling in for the night on the Mara Plains of Kenya. Unlike many wild cats that are nocturnal hunters, cheetah prefer more of a nine-ish to five-ish schedule. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 350mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/200th of a second.

A bat-eared fox pup plays by the den while Mom is out hunting for dinner. Photographed in the Masai Mara of Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.

On another note, wanted to give a shout out to my friend Louis Wittig who has a kickstarter project for a card game called No Fish! A Game of Environmental Catastrophe for the Whole Family. If you follow the comments section of this blog I’m sure you have a pretty good idea of Louis’s satirical, sometimes cryptic, often subtle, but usually always funny sense of humor. The illustrations alone are pretty fantastic, if not comically depressing. Click here to go to the Kickstarter page and get a pack of cards for yourself or as a gift.

This leopard had her eyes locked onto an antelope as she slowly stalked her way through the tall grass in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 175mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/500th of a second.

Yellow-necked spurfowl are a common sight in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Also known as francolins, they are often referred to as African chickens for their habit of always running out of the way as safari vehicles pass by. This image gives a good look at that yellow neck. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 360mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.

A female gerenuk emerges from the bushes in Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Their unusually long necks, as well as their habit of rearing back on their hind legs, allow them to reach foliage that other antelope species can not. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340mm) ISO 400, f/4 at 1/320th of a second.

The zebras were getting understandable nervous as these three cheetah brothers went on the prowl. About twenty minutes later they made an unsuccessful sprint while attempting to capture one of the young zebra calves. Photographed in the Ol Pajeta Conservancy in Laikipia, Kenya. Nikon D300 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/250th of a second.

There wasn’t much light left when I came across this troop of African bush elephants in Samburu, Kenya. The Samburu elephants are considerably more red and less gray than their counterparts elsewhere in Africa. But that’s only because of the red dirt in the area that they spend all day tossing over their bodies. When the light is low, the effect is that they seem to glow. Nikon D850 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm with graduated neutral density filter) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/125th of a second.

Back in January, I posted a shot of this leopard resting while preparing for a hunt. The yawn gave me a different look and excuse for a repost. Soon after letting it all out, she stalked off through the tall grasses to get a better look at whatever it was she was looking at. Nikon D500 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 330mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/160th of a second.