A Mother’s Love: Carrying Her Newborn Cub

• Photographer
  Rakhi Chu

A mother’s love manifests in many ways. Here it appears in the gentleness of the mother leopard’s teeth clutching her newborn cub, whose eyes had not opened yet. I sat in my car afterwards stunned to have witnessed such a private moment on a self-drive at the Kruger Park. She had first appeared moving slowly, but with purpose, through the tall grass. After she had almost disappeared, I made the decision to leave her and drive down the ravine to wait for her. It worked. Ten minutes later, she walked by the car and continued through the valley of the ravine disappearing around the bend.