A cheetah mum dutifully taught her cubs how to hunt impala while the prey desperately tried to escape.

Andrew Stephens was on safari through Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana, when he spotted a female big cat stalking some nearby animals.

Fascinating footage shows the cheetah bring down an unfortunate impala but instead of suffocating it straight away, she allowed her six-month-old cubs to learn some valuable lessons.

As the quartet struggled to keep the larger animal pinned down it did manage to almost escape their grasps before mum finally put it out of its misery.

Andrew said: “We had seen kills before but it was the first time we had seen a cheetah mum teaching her cubs to hunt.

“The mum was allowing the cubs to practice taking down the impala and suffocating it.

“She allowed the cubs to practice for approximately 10-15 minutes before she stepped in and put the impala out of its misery.

“Even though this was fascinating to watch, the moments watching the mum stalk and catch her prey were filled with tension and excitement.

“Then the interaction between the cubs, and impala and seeing how their instinct to kill kicks in. It was very hard to watch, nature is cruel.

“What was interesting is that one of the cubs was more dominant taking the ‘lead’ and two of the others just cared about feeding.”