Daily Mail – by Ted ThornhillThis picture captures the incredible moment a photographer lies in the grass beside a cheetah at an African game reserve.
The predator is the picture of spotty elegance as she poses with the photographer and peers down the camera.
The beautiful beast has her ears pricked ready to stalk some prey – but luckily seems to have no appetite for the man beside her.
Photographer Chris Du Plessis and Mtombi the Cheetah reviewing the photos
Cat’s amazing: The predator is the picture of spotty elegance as she poses with the photographer, completely at ease with the situation
Heads up: The cheetah is perfectly happy to let Mr Du Plessis stroke her
Photographer Chris Du Plessis took this incredible photo at Tshukudu Game Lodge, Hoedspruit, South Africa.
The 39-year-old from Germany used a remote device to capture the shot of him working as a photographer beside the wild big cat.
The gorgeous female Cheetah, named Mtombi, is tame to the camp but still runs wild and hunts for herself.
Feline fine: The cheetah is called Mtombi and lives at Tshukudu Game Lodge – but she hunts for herself
Friendly: Despite the big cat’s wild side, she luckily has no appetite for Mr Du Plessis
Point and shoot: Mr Du Plessis draws the cheetah’s attention to something in the distance
Chris said: ‘Mtombi is a rescued cheetah at the Marula Camp, Tshukudu Game Lodge in South Africa.
‘The loud sound of her purr is just amazing and I could feel her warm body against me, I could feel she was relaxed with me next to her.
‘However I am still very aware never trust a wild animal, I was ready for a sudden attack or something, but i could lie there for five minutes quite comfortably.
‘We found out later that Mtombi had caught wind to a nearby pride of wild lions – in the photo you can see her sensing their presence.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538529/Amazing-moment-cheetah-lies-photographer-lets-stroke-head.html#ixzz2qNCv7DUx
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🙂 😎 nice .
I read years ago that Cheetahs are one of the only wild animals to be friendly to man. Some native hunters use them as hunting aids and they wait until the cheetah is fully grown before taking them as pets. This way they have been fully trained to hunt and do not need humans to teach them.
The ancient Egyptians used to keep them as pets.
Maybe the Cheetas remember.