Face to face with the lion

Serengeti National Park - a park with an area of 14,763 sq. km. in the Serengeti region, located in Tanzania. It is home to over 3,500 lions living in dozens of prides.

Photographer Nick Nichols and videographer Nathan Williamson made several trips to the Serengeti between July 2011 and January 2013. Filming was carried out from two cameras mounted on special remote-controlled vehicles to capture images of predators from as close as possible. 242,000 photos and 200 hours of video - this is the result of the work.

(Total 13 photos)

1. Photo © Michael Nichols/National Geographic

2. Lions caught an African warthog (resembles a wild boar with a somewhat flattened, very large head). For the pride, this is a small dinner. But such small “meals” help to overcome the hungry season in the park, otherwise the cubs will starve completely.

3. The feast for lions begins with the advent of the rainy season: fresh green grass attracts huge herds of wildebeest to these parts.

4. The dry season in the Serengeti is difficult for everyone.

5.

6. The cubs are still too small to hunt, but old enough to eat meat. In the pride, mainly females hunt. Zebra or wildebeest are excellent prey.

7. A cub plays with a lion dad.

8. Spicy moment. In the future, other males may take the place of the lion-father, and then they will kill other people's cubs.

9. Lion's tenderness.

10. The number of pride can reach 30-40 animals.

11. Males, as a rule, do not participate in hunting, except when the victim is a large animal - for example, a giraffe or a buffalo. The mission of the male is to protect the territory.

12. Male lions have a large mane of thick hair up to 40 cm long. The mane visually enlarges the lion in size, and also helps to intimidate other males and attract females. Charles Darwin hypothesized that the mane protects the animal's neck from being bitten. But over time, this assumption was rejected. A wet lion looks pretty funny.

13. Lions are apex predators, that is, they occupy the top position in the food chain.