This has to be one of my favourite lion pictures. It was taken in Kruger National Park whch is our largest game reserve, about 20,000 square kilometers (about half that for those who work in miles).
It is a beautiful place with millions of visitors from overseas each year. In any given day, you will see lion, elephant, zebra, buffalo, giraffe and a host of antelope. It is also a bird lovers paradise with over 200 species found in the area.
At one stage lions were hard to find as they got TB and many of them died, but they regained their strength and now there are about 8,000 in the park.
The best time for finding and viewing them are the early mornings or late afternoon and in winter, can be found laying on the road when you leave the camp and head out for the day.
This cub is about 16-18 months old and almost ready to start taking its place in the pride.
This male has seen many, many battles, probably with younger males trying to take over his females.
His brother looks almost as bad. Both these males will mate with the dominant female but will not allow outsiders the chance.
Being born in the Park, they are very comfortable with vehicles around them. When the weather starts to turn cooler, they will come and lay on the tarmac during the late afternoon and spend the night there for its warmth.
Every species of wild cat has different markings behind their ears.......
and the tip of their tails by which they can be identified.
