Cheetah mother and her week-old cub, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

© Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures

Cheetah mother and her week-old cub, Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

This moment of mother-and-cub tenderness may challenge your perceptions of the cheetah as a speedy death machine of the African savannah. Cheetah cubs are fairly helpless for the first six weeks of their lives, so mom stays close during this crucial time. And if mom needs to leave the cubs behind to hunt for herself, the cubs are protected by a coat of spiky, golden fur, called a mantle, that will help keep them camouflaged in the tall grass while mom’s out. The mantle will give way to the characteristic cheetah spots as the cubs grow and learn to care for themselves.