September 22, 2024

In this week’s Photo of the Week, saving young cheetahs, photographing heat ... and animal prep for fall.

PHOTOGRAPH BY NICHOLE SOBECKI

Stop the theft! You’re looking at a seven-month-old cheetah. He is hissing in the back of an SUV. He has been intercepted before he can sold to a smuggler. Nat Geo Explorer Nichole Sobecki, in this week’s Photo of the Week, captured a happy ending.

But scores, maybe hundreds, of young cheetahs are taken from Somaliland each year to be sold as “pets” in Persian Gulf nations. See her tenacious work. 

PHOTOGRAPH BY ELLIOT ROSS

Too much sunshine: Record-breaking heat hit the world again last month, and there is a 97 percent chance that 2024 will be the hottest year on record. In Los Angeles, Nat Geo Explorer Elliot Ross had to illustrate how wealthier, shadier parts of the city can feel 20 degrees cooler than concrete-dominated poorer areas with little protection against direct sunshine. See Elliot's images.  

Autumn is busy for animals like this grizzly, packing on the weight before wintertime hibernation. Ladybugs are feasting hard, too, before their seasonal naptime. Catch these animals and their fall preparations in these selected Nat Geo photos.  

Today’s Soundtrack: Autumn Sweater, Yo La Tengo 

Photo of the Week is edited and curated by David Beard. Have a friend who might like it? Here’s the signup. Catch you next week!