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AssetID: 35076172

Headline: Cheetah Cubs Play In Drain

Caption: **VIDEO AVAILABLE: info@cover-images.com** These adorable pictures (and video) show a mother cheetah watching as her four cubs played in a storm drain. They were captured in Kenya last month (in July) by wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein. Paul, a guide for London-based Exodus Travels (www.exodus.co.uk), says he observed the group playfully leaping around for an hour. Paul explains: "I have spent several years of my life following cheetahs. Being daytime hunters they are the most active of all the cats, but it still means many hours of watching sleeping animals. In the heart of the Olare Motorogi Conservancy I watched this mother, named Selenkei, and four cubs all day. She ran down a gazelle fawn just after first light then rested. After a while the clouds appeared and the temperature dropped – the Mara stands at 1500 metres - the cubs then played in and out of this drain for an hour. "The mother Selenkei sadly lost her litter last October when they were very small. With such a high number of other predators it is very hard for these small but nimble-footed cats to raise families successfully, so to see this brood beyond the critical age (they are now five months) makes me and everyone else in the Conservancy happy. They are still vulnerable but now have the speed to avoid most dangers. She is a smart mum and has chosen an area with plenty of cover with acres of low whistling thorn acacia and also no shortage of gazelles to keep the larder well-stocked. Crucially there are few lions and hyenas in this corner of this precious and fertile parcel of prime faunal real estate where all the Maasai stake holders receive a share. Paul Goldstein guides for Exodus and co-owns Kicheche (www.kicheche.com), a series of four small eco camps in Kenya. He is doing a series of wildlife lectures this autumn with the BBC’s Chris Packham https://www.exodus.co.uk/community/slideshows

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