the "guardian"- Masai Mara N.R - Kenya

Being a male lion is not the easiest job in the world!....at a very early

stage of your life you are forced by the dominant male of the pride to

abandon your family and then for a long period of time you live alone, far

away from the other members of the pride, trying to survive and reach

adulthood. If you are lucky enough to succeed as a nomad, and

become a full grown male lion... you might have your chance to

challenge the dominant male of another lion pride and if you survive the

battle that follows (which most of the time proves fatal for the

loser)....then you take over and become the "King". This shot was taken

in Masai Mara (Kenya), and the "starring figure" is a dominant male who

stood up as our vehicle approached in order to examine if we posed a

threat to his family....several female lions and cubs were lying behind

him, feeling safe by the "guardian's" presence! thank you for your

comment

Magnificent....

Excellent!! Great lighting and colors. Well done. I know lions are supposed to blend in with their environment, but I would like to see him stand out just a little more... I did an visual example of what I'm trying to explain, hope you don't mind... I darkened the grass around the lion and blended it into him.

Hello Theodore. How exciting it must be to visit such places...and get paid for doing it. This is a great shot of a magnificent animal. You have others of the female and cub that are also very nicely done. Great work. I'll trade you jobs. ;-)