The Grant's gazelle is noticeably larger than the Thomson's gazelle; it does not have the distinctive black strip which separates the upper and lower body colour on the Tommy.
It is amazing how often, as you approach, that whole groups of animals will turn backside towards you. Ready to flee if the need arises, I guess.
But if they do, and they will, the Grants gazelle has an apparently thinner tail whereas the Thomson's seems to have a fatter tail with a noticeable black strip down it.
Gazelle are everywhere. They are very attractive creatures and, as I was always expecting better photographic opportunities, I never knuckled down to getting the best photographs, always assuming a better opportunity would come later.
End result is, I never got the really great shots I should have been taking.
As for the gazelle, not only is attractive to look at, with fine, smooth body, beautifully coloured and with great horns, but it also tastes quite nice, too. At least leopard, lion, cheetah and a whole host of other creatures think so, including the Marshall's Eagle, the largest of all eagles.
The Grants gazelle immediately below was spotted very early one morning standing staring across the plains in Amboseli.
We watched for a while to see what had attracted his attention. Suddenly, in an almost instantaneous flash of light, a cheetah popped out of the quite low grass and took a baby zebra, right in front of us. The gazelle took no action other than to continue to stand motionless, mesmerized by the action.
Bottom right is a Thomson's gazelle for comparison.
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