Photographer's incredible images capture the rare moment a mother hyena brings her offspring above ground

These incredible photographs have captured the rare moment a mother hyena brings her offspring above ground.



Hyenas are nocturnal animals and the young are born and raised in underground burrows - so daytime pictures of young cubs are very unusual.



Wildlife photographer Rajesh Pardeshi managed to capture the amazing shots in Ahmednagar, India.

Stunning: Wildlife photographer Rajesh Pardeshi captured the rare moment a mother hyena brought her offspring above ground in Ahmednagar, India

The images show a cub looking cheekily towards the camera before being cleaned by its mother.



Mr Pardeshi also took an amazing picture of the two cubs staring towards the sky with the mother howling at the slowly rising moon.



He said: 'These photos were taken about 35km from my home town.



'I couldn't believe it when I saw this hyena mother with her brood in broad daylight.

Rare: Hyenas are nocturnal animals and the young are born and raised in underground burrows - so daytime pictures of young cubs are very unusual

'It is very, very rare to see them out in the open like this.



'I have been tracking striped hyena for the last few years and these are the best images I've got.



'Because they are nocturnal animals it is very difficult to get decent pictures taken in good light.



'And to be able to get the mother with the cubs is an extremely rare event.



'I'm used to sleeping outdoors and I spend many days trying to get shots like this.



'I like these pictures because they are something of a triumph.



'But I also like them because like any good mother the female hyena is protecting her cubs, which is nice to see.'



The Striped Hyena is an endangered species with less than 10,000 adults left in the wild.



It is typically a scavenger but larger males have been known to kill their own prey and attacks on humans have been recorded.

