These adorable pictures show a lion cub playfully biting on its mother’s tail at a wildlife reserve in Kenya.
The seven-week-old animal, one of three cubs seen in the photos, chases its mother’s swishing tail and stands on its hind legs in a bid to reach high enough.
The tail remains out of reach at first but eventually the cub grasp its mother’s tail with its paws before trapping it in its mouth, while the parent growls but faces in the opposite direction.
Wildlife photographer Paul Goldstein captured the cute pictures at the Olare Conservancy in western Kenya last month.
He said: ‘Right now this pride is very healthy with three of the females with very young cubs. The oldest are about seven weeks and include this particular miscreant, who appears much more mischievous than any of its siblings.
‘All young cats (and indeed dogs) seem never to tire of this tail-grabbing sport. The mother is tolerant for a while, indulging her young charge but eventually loses patience.
‘Sometimes the mother growled, sometimes she cuffed the tawny tot terrorising her, but it was done gently and the cub lived to tell the tale.’
