21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Play Fighting

The first priority of the next morning was searching for the cheetah family that we’d encountered at the end of the previous day. Luckily, we found them again shortly after sunrise. Mom was resting on the grassland while the cubs were happily running around and jumping on each other. Their tawny fur made them blend in so well in the buff grass. They were energetic and playful and soon transformed the golden grassland into a dazzling playground. The highlight was when these two cubs were play fighting. The cub on the left had one paw on its sibling’s back and another paw right in front of the face. “Got you!”

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 09.2023
Date Uploaded: 11.2023
Photo Location: Kenya
Camera: ILCE-1
Copyright: © Elizabeth Yicheng Shen