Our tour guide driving a four-wheel drive speeds off across the plains after being told the famous "four brothers" are on the prowl.

These male cheetahs are known to work together with deadly efficiency - although, with so many wildebeest in the vicinity, it is hard to imagine breakfast will present much of a challenge.

Ours isn't the only four-wheel drive racing across the dry grass to witness the imminent kill. No fewer than 27 other vehicles are encircling the herd of zebra and wildebeest waiting for the show.

When the four cats finally spring on their hapless prey and bring one young wildebeest to the ground, about half the cars pull up around them to watch. Each car carries a group of tourists, cameras in hand, filming the cheetahs' jaws on the wildebeest's neck and recording the animal's last mournful cries.