The tiny cheetah cubs that have a slow, gentle start in life

Film of it bringing down prey with its sheer amazing speed has long been a staple of African wildlife documentaries.

But its 'home life', raising and protecting its young, has been little seen until now, with these incredible pictures showing how a mother raises her litter of cubs.

The cheetah may be a predator, but it is also preyed upon, and recent studies in Kenya and the Serengeti park in Tanzania show that 90 per cent of cubs die before reaching the age of three months.

So a mother cheetah's maternal role is critical to the survival of the species, which has been considered endangered since the Sixties.

For 18 months, mothers must raise their cubs from tiny, helpless creatures - only ten ounces in weight and less than 12 inches long - into grown animals capable of taking care of themselves.