Pictures: Cheetahs of the Kalahari -- National Geographic

Sibling Squash
Photograph by Gus Mills
National Geographic Big Cats explorer Gus Mills is examining cheetahs in the arid environment of the Kalahari. The cheetahs are tracked using San trackers, radios, and DNA analyses. This data helps park managers ensure the continued existence of the cheetahs and future monitoring. It also serves as an example for the conservation of the species in other arid regions. With National Geographic's support, Mills was able to complete his fieldwork and research.
Pictured: A three-week-old cub squashes one of its two litter mates during a brief visit by Mills to the den while the mother was out hunting. Mills and his team need to count the cubs and collect DNA from fur samples in order to establish paternity. Such brief interactions do not disturb the cheetahs, and they have never observed any adverse reaction by the mother or cubs.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Daily Special
Photograph by Gus Mills
A mother cheetah feeds her four six-week-old cubs a springbok in what could be their first experience of meat. This mother was successful in raising all four male cubs to independence.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Unnecessary Roughness
Photograph by Gus Mills
At about three months of age, the well-fed cubs become quite active, chasing and tackling each other as they start to hone their hunting skills for later life.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Dune Time
Photograph by Gus Mills
A sibling group of cheetahs rests on a Kalahari dune.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Motherly Advice
Photograph by Gus Mills
A mother and her large cubs move through the dunes of the Kalahari. Cheetah cubs are dependent on their mother for about 15 months before they are able to fend for themselves, first as a sibling group and later as solitary females or males or as males in a coalition.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Prancing at Sunset
Photograph by Gus Mills
Two large cheetah cubs follow their mother (unseen) along a dune at sunset. Adult Kalahari cheetahs are quite active at night, although females with cubs are usually not, probably to avoid encounters with other large carnivores.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Tree Aquisition
Photograph by Gus Mills
Two male cheetahs mark a tree with their scent. Cheetah males often form coalitions of two or three and cooperate in defending a territory against other males.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Fast Food
Photograph by Gus Mills
A female cheetah pursues an adult male springbok. Some females specialize in killing these large, gazelle-like antelopes. Springbok are strictly confined to the dry riverbeds and pans of the Kalahari.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Different Spots
Photograph by Gus Mills
A leopard moves along the calcrete bank of a dry riverbed. Leopards are also able to exist in the dry Kalahari, although they appear to do so at a lower density than cheetahs.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Steady Stakeout
Photograph by Gus Mills
A cheetah scans for steenbok from the top of a dune. This "sit and wait" hunting strategy is the most frequent way in which they locate steenbok. Their eyesight is incredible, and they can often detect the movement of prey from several hundred meters—even before Mills can with binoculars.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.
Gus Mills
Photograph by Margie Mills
For the past five years, Gus Mills and his wife have been studying the approximately 350 cheetahs that live in the Kalahari, a highly arid environment consisting primarily of vegetated sand dunes. In often scorching conditions, Mills tracks cheetah lifestyle patterns through a variety of data collection methods. Mills is a National Geographic Big Cats grantee.
Big Cats Initiative
National Geographic is working to avert the extinction of lions, cheetahs, and other big cats with the Big Cats Initiative, a comprehensive program that supports innovative projects. Learn how you can help save these animals.
For just $5, you can help save big cats by uploading a photo of your little kitty here.