A cheetah and impala engaged in an incredible mid-air scramble that caused the two animals to seem horizontal.
On a photo safari, 53-year-old photographer Jeffrey Wu and a group of visitors caught images of a cheetah clutching onto an impala as it sprang into the air to avoid becoming food.
Images of the impala and cheetah jumping horizontally into the air were captured in Kᴇɴʏᴀ’s Masai Mara national reserve. The cheetah is named Imani, and she saw this juvenile impala running towards her after seeing her miss her first victim, according to Jeffrey, a Canadian photographer who leads tours in Africa.
Imani leaped into the air and performed a flawless somersault, extending and turning her entire body. Her paws then extended and grabbed the impala’s left leg behind, dragging it back to the ground.
Nature has formed predator and prey couples, such as cheetah with impala and lion with zebra, so that competition is fair, whether it’s to catch supper or escape being dinner. When everything is in balance, the environment is healthy and predators have access to adequate food without running out of it.
For perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, cheetahs and impalas have engaged in conflict. Both of these animals’ genes have been modified through evolution to improve running.
