Captive Animals Mara, or is it Mapenzi?

[AlphaWorld]

Werribee Open Range Zoo lost their beloved cheetah Kulinda in November. It wasn't a surprise; her health had been declining, and she had been in pain from arthritis.

I was a bit surprised that we didn't get a new cheetah. No, we got three! One, a healthy, but older, cheetah called Sansa who is in Kulinda's enclosure, and two younger cheetahs, Mara and Mapenzi, who are in another enclosure which had been empty for some months. The two are unusual because they are sisters who are happy living together (usually female cheetahs are solitary).

I took the 400-800 with the A1 II today because it was a brightly sunny day, and windy - I was expecting to photograph birds (but saw almost none).

Here is the first shot I processed of one of the girls (they are seven years old, so not really "girls", but they are younger than Sansa, who is 11).

I'll post some more as I process them.

This is the whole frame as shot, as she came through some shade. The A1 II focuses so well with the 400-800.

This was shot wide open at f/8 at 800mm, 1/2000, ISO 2500. The ISO was chosen by Auto ISO - you can see the brightness in front and behind - I think the auto ISO chose well.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Some more images from these beautiful cats - you get to see both of them.

The light is dappled, and changing due to the window blowing the trees to move the shadows.

I cannot resist captioning this first one "Cheetah Downward Dog". (Downward Cat?)

Shot at 500mm, f/7.1, 1/2000, ISO 4000

Shot at 420mm, f/6.3, 1/2000, ISO 3200

Shot at 420mm, f/6.3, 1/2000, ISO 2500 - I cut the whites a lot to deal with the bright white on her lower jaw.