Side by Side

Tom photographed this pair at Zimanga Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal — a 70-square-kilometre stretch of Zululand bushveld where cheetah were reintroduced as part of a decades-long effort to restore more than 80 mammal species to land that had been nearly emptied by poaching. The reserve is now regarded as one of Africa's foremost wildlife photography destinations, and it shows in the proximity here: the cub tucked against its mother's shoulder, both facing the lens with matched amber eyes and identical black tear lines. A portrait only closeness allows.