[Erik Boehm]

Apparently, the cheetahs has just eaten from a big kill just hours before, and weren't hungry.....

The young antelope may have gotten the wrong idea about Cheetahs... I wonder if it will go back and tell all the Antelope (who presumably ran like hell from the Cheetahs), that Cheetahs are really just friendly and want to play....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246886/Pictured-Three-cheetahs-spare-tiny-antelopes-life--play-instead.html

[jjcote]

Cheetahs are actually not very good at killing prey that isn't running at top speed. They'll bypass any animals that are standing still, and go after the fastest one. They run up alongside it and trip it, and the fall does a lot of damage, which is important because the cat doesn't have powerful jaws.

[Erik Boehm]

I think its jaws were just fine for killing that little *impala* (need to edit my above post).
Animals that are standing still, may be intending to fight and stand their ground, and cheetahs are lightly built, you cant have a significant risk of serious injury every time you want to eat.
Of course, their preferred prey in general can't put up much of a fight....
If their prey bulks up and sacrifices speed for the ability to put up a fight... the heavier built lions will get them...
Being prey must suck....

Prey standing still may also just not trigger the chase response/instinct... domestic cats will ignore an inamiate object... but put a string on it, and pull it, and they go nuts over it....
I've even seen them start tapping it with their paws after you stop moving it, and some feedback mechanism ensures- the more they tap it, the more it moves, the more they play with it, until they are going nuts chasing batting around a ball or rubber band, or whatever, all over the floor.

That cheetah may have been putting its paw on the impalas head, daring it to run, so it could play some more (and when you play with cats, if the cat really gets into it, it may start biting and clawing you - the impala may have ended up as desert after the main course if it wasn't as calm as those pictures imply)

[Windlord]

Those are some fantastic shots.
Three thumbs up to the photographer.
Happening to be in the right place at the right time, sure payed off.