I was photographing a project in Namibia that uses guarding dogs to protect livestock and so protect predators, cheetahs included. I was having a glass of wine with Dr Laurie Marker who co-founded and runs the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) when this wonderful sunset started so we rushed off to take a few pictures. The cheetah is Chewbacca, a kind of tame ambassador used for people to get a close up look and appreciate a real cheetah.Although this sort of picture is cheating (pun intended) it’s very nice to have a model that doesn’t run away. The down side is that Chewbacca then made out with my waist coat (luckily I wasn’t wearing it at the time, and not for a while after).

Andrew Harrington is a full time wildlife photographer working hard at enlightening the world to its endangered wildlife and habitats. Pictures are available though Aurora photos in the US and Alamy here. Photographer since 1997, EPUK member since 2003