Out of Africa's call of the wild

Going for the kill up close and personal at luxury resort

- Brendan Seery

Sean Doyle has been a ranger in the Pilanesberg area for about eight years — and other places before that — but as he drives, alerted by calls on the radio, he's like a kid in a candy store.

We're about to catch a rare glimpse of one of the park's four cheetah — but even more amazing, she is with her surviving cub, the only juvenile cheetah in more than 50,000 hectares.

The mother is difficult to pick up initially, but through binoculars she eventually comes into view, collapsing under a thorn tree and blending in perfectly with her surroundings. He can't see the cub yet, but Doyle indicates another bush and says: "Look for the white! He's still got his baby fluff!"