In the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, two cheetahs were caught on camera in an intense and high-speed chase to take down a Topi. The hunt was captured by Ivan Glaser, a 61-year-old travel consultant and photographic guide, who shared it with LatestSightings.com.

Glaser and his guide, Jackson Ronko, from the Oltepesi Tented Safari Camp, had been waiting patiently for the cheetahs to start hunting. They had spotted the two cheetahs resting under a bush in the heat of the day and settled down for what they thought could be a long wait. However, after a very short while, a lone Topi came running towards the cheetahs, and in a flash, they went from resting to hunting mode.

Ronko positioned their vehicle strategically, anticipating the Topi’s path of escape from the cheetahs. The Topi ran along the ridge line in their direction, and the cheetahs pounced on it just 30 meters from where they had stationed themselves. The Topi is much heavier than the cheetah, so they can’t rely on just their weight to pull it down. Instead, they cleverly employed a tactic of grabbing at the Topi’s leg with their claws to try and get it to misstep and fall. Once it falls, the hunt is usually over. The entire hunt was over in just 30 seconds.

These two cheetahs are the survivors of the famous “Tano Bora” coalition of five cheetahs, who were the highlight of the Maasai Mara for many years. Three of them died over the past two years, with two being killed by the others for various reasons and one being killed by a lion. These two cheetahs, who are about 8.5 years old now, almost always hunt large game like topi and adult zebra, even though they can only consume a small amount of such large prey. They probably can’t run fast enough to catch the more nimble gazelles.

Glaser notes that getting good images of cheetahs hunting requires more than just photographic skills. It’s essential to understand the behavior of the animals as well as the terrain to position oneself in the right place for the best view of the hunt. That’s where a skilled and knowledgeable guide like Ronko comes in to play.

This incredible footage of the two cheetahs taking down the Topi serves as a reminder of the beauty and brutality of nature, and the importance of conservation efforts to protect these magnificent animals.