Revenge of the Warthog: Brave Mother Defies Odds, Tackles Two Male Cheetahs to Save Her Piglets! Epic Showdown as Maternal Fury Faces Fierce Predators.

Cheetahs are used to being at the top of the food chain, but in the wild even the hunter can quickly become the hunted…

These pictures taken on the plains of the Savuti channel in northern Botswana show two male cheetahs who got more than they bargained for while feasting on a young warthog.

Preparing for a post-feeding nap, the two predators were startled into retreat as a mother warthog determined to protect her young launched an attack on them.

Get out of here: The warthog chases off the cheetah which had just attacked her young in northern Botswana

Guide and photographer Lee Wittham, who was leading a tour at the time, said: ‘The mother warthog had three piglets to start with and the cheetah managed to get one.

‘Cheetah are rather timed and as soon as something challenges them they usually retreat for fear of injury.

‘If they injure themselves they cannot hunt and will die as a result.’

Taking flight: Spurred on by fury, the warthog closes in on the world’s fastest animal

Lasting around 15 minutes, the sparring match produced a rare sight as the diminutive warthog tried in vain to save the doomed piglet.

‘The images are interesting because it shows that the tables can turn on the predators and they don’t always have it their way as is the common perception by most people,’ Mr Wittham said.

‘The cheetah will regularly hunt small warthogs but it isn’t often that you get to see the bravery that the mother shows whilst trying to defend her offspring.’

No fear: The cheetah twists and turns in flull flight in an attempt to put distance between itself and the warthog

Despite the mother’s frantic efforts, the cheetahs eventually returned to finish their kill.

Mr Wittham added: ‘Eventually the cheetahs got their reward and the mother had to resign herself to the fact that she had lost one of her piglets.

‘The mother warthog remained in the area for some time and actually returned to the site of the kill later that day and sniffed around as if looking for her missing piglet.’

Finishing the feast: Eventually nature reasserts itself and the cheetah returns to finish its meal