RIGHT
Tourism adds a layer
of complexity to the
Serengeti ecosystem.
On the day photogra-
pher Charlie Hamil-
ton James captured
this image in the Masai
Mara, he counted 48
cars nearby. Cheetahs
are more docile than
other big cats around
humans, so it’s not
unusual to find one
napping in the shadow
of a safari vehicle. In
fact, there’s little in the
cats’ daily routines,
including hunting,
that doesn’t involve
a human audience.BELOW RIGHT
The chase usually
doesn’t last long when
cheetahs home in on
prey. They can accel-
erate from zero to 60
miles an hour in three
seconds. Here two
cheetahs have sprinted
into action to attack
a pair of wildebeests
that separated from
their herd. The end
is not a certainty,
however. Cheetahs kill
their prey less than
half the time, and
wildebeests can gallop
up to 50 miles an hour,
sometimes zigzagging
as they flee.PHOTO ESSAY: THE WILDLIFE
A FIGHT TO SURVIVEPAGE
NO. 120THEY’VE GROWN UP
WITH CARS AROUND THEM AT EVERY TURN,
BUT ALL THE GAWKING
HASN’T SLOWED DOWN THESE CHEETAHS.