Amazing Gazelle Baby

What is it about babies of any species that melts the heart?  Beautiful or not, they all charm us.  Yesterday was a particularly enchanting encounter with a tiny Thompson Gazelle baby, born just minutes before we happened upon it, lying in the grass just below its mother.

Gazelle babies must be able to run within 30 minutes or so of birth or they, or their mothers, are likely to fall victim to predators.  We watched as this tiny newborn responded to its deep instincts, struggled to get onto its skinny little legs, and take off after its nervous mother with the single-minded goal of getting its first meal.

The photos below show the the baby "Tommy" in the grass, then its mother licking it all over to encourage it to struggle up, next the baby toppling over in its first efforts to rise (it toppled dozens of times before finally making it upright), and, finally, actually toddling, then running after its mom.
What a wonder!