‘Life is not measured by time. It is measured by moments.’ -Armin Houman

And the sighting I am about to share with you will undoubtedly be the most phenomenal wilderness experience of my entire life, so much so that I feel that even saying it was outright a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ sighting doesn’t give it enough weight or emphasis. It will be a moment that I will probably reflect on and talk about long after my time as a ranger is done. We are truly privileged to be able to explore this magical piece of wilderness daily, not knowing what we are going to come across and how no two game drives are the same.

Chris Taylor and guests enjoy a front-row seat to one of nature’s most spectacular events.

Usually, it is incredibly rare to see a cheetah at Londolozi, this is a result of there being only a few cheetahs around, and their numbers are significantly lower than that of the other large cats, such as lions and leopards. Sightings of them are predominantly down in the southwestern grasslands of the reserve. This habitat is conducive to their hunting strategy and the speed at which they chase their prey. Elsewhere on the reserve, they would encounter too many other predators which pose a genuine threat to them or would likely steal their herd-earned meal.

This cheetah helplessly tries to defend its carcass against an arriving hyena.

On a recent morning game drive a female cheetah was found, due to their scarcity, we headed straight across there to see the cheetah. From the moment we arrived, her behaviour seemed unusual. She was somewhat concealing herself in a dense thicket and all we could see were a few spots. With cheetahs being at the bottom of the predator hierarchy, they tend to rest in the open or where they can at least keep a lookout if any danger is approaching. If the cheetah by chance has a carcass they could look to stash it under a bush and conceal it from vultures soaring above.

Resting in the dense shrubbery, we could hardly see a spot of hers until she finally she stood up and scanned her surroundings.

However, there was no sign of a carcass so our only explanation at the time was that she was trying to avoid the heat by seeking refuge under the dense shrubbery. We sat patiently hoping that at some point we would get a better view of her. Finally, she stood up and scanned her surroundings before disappearing once again into the blue guarri thicket surrounding her.

Moments later she reappeared, this time with something in her mouth. My initial thought was that she had caught a scrub hare and stashed it in the shrubs, and this would maybe explain her behaviour and now she was moving it somewhere else. But in reality, it was something far more precious and took me a few moments to come to terms with what I was seeing.

It was not a scrub hare in her mouth! It was a tiny helpless cheetah cub.

Completely overwhelmed with emotion, excitement, and panic, I felt like I was in a frenzy, I couldn’t speak, all I could do was blabber something that sounded like a baby trying to say “cub“.

Witnessing a scene of pure intimacy and care between a mother and her helpless little cub as she delicately carries it, nestled in deadly jaws, is one of the greatest wildlife moments one could wish for and one that you could not prepare yourself for.

The mother gently carries her young cub.

Once we managed to gather ourselves and our emotions, we watched her carry the tiny cub into the distance, probably 200m away. All glued to our seats, we did not want to move the vehicle, we were going to let the mother do what she needed to and didn’t want to add any further pressure by following her.

Minutes after she disappeared, she came trotting back towards us, poked her head into the bush again and emerged with a second cub. Swiftly pacing through the grass, she transported her second cub. While she was in process we could hear the gentle little squeaks of another cub in the shrubs. We knew she would be back to collect a third cub soon.

Emerging from the thicket the mother cheetah had another tiny cub in her mouth.

These were quite obviously the youngest cubs I have ever seen. Once the proverbial dust had settled and we could engage in some form of conversation, we presumed the cubs to be less than a week old. Their eyes were not yet open, they were unable to walk and therefore helpless. The mother will use clumps of grass or dense shrubbery and thickets to conceal them and at this age, she will likely move the cubs every day or two. Moving them a distance of about 200m-300m at a time.

We were unbelievably lucky to have been there at the right time when she moved her cubs because firstly we were unaware of this cheetah having cubs, we were very far south on the reserve and it was just by chance that the rangers had found her that morning. From here she is likely to move them again and with it being grassy and open in the area it is challenging to track any animal here. So the chances of seeing her again with the cubs are so slim.

Because cheetahs do not use permanent, well-established dens, the cubs are incredibly vulnerable and cub mortality rates are extremely high. The mother has to leave the cubs alone and unprotected to go off hunting. So it is certainly a long road ahead for this mother and she is bound to face many trials and tribulations along this journey. We hope that she manages to keep the cubs safe and we have another chance to see them soon.

Experiencing the sight of a cheetah delicately transporting her three young cubs is indescribable. The sheer joy of witnessing a cub in the protective embrace of its mother’s mouth fulfils the wild dreams of any nature enthusiast. This becomes even more extraordinary with cheetahs, creatures known for their elusive nature and absence of defined den sites. Many dedicated researchers, investing countless hours with these majestic beings, seldom encounter such a rare and exceptional sighting. The privilege of witnessing this phenomenon hinges on being not only in the right place but, more crucially, at the right moment. This is undeniably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, which I will never forget.