Lion Feeding on Young Zebra
Madikwe Game Reserve, 26 February 2010, 17h19
Nikon D300, Nikon 80-200 @ 200mm, 1/160, f/5.6, ISO 640
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If you have ever watched lions feeding you will know that it is a very clinical scene. The lions go about finishing their meal in a very step-by-step fashion. I am not referring to the actual kill, like what Hilton Kotze described in his great guest post last week, but rather the large cats feeding on the carcass. A few weeks ago we found a lioness and her two youngsters, around one year of age, in pretty thick bush. We sat watching the lions moving around in the thickets for a while when one of the youngsters walked down a game path straight past out vehicle carrying the head of their unfortunate prey.
Considering that the lion in the image is only about a year old, you can see how tiny the zebra must have been. Under normal circumstances most people who come on safari hope to see the actual kill but on this occasion it was pretty unanimous that no one would have liked to see the three lions take down this very young zebra. I am not too fond of photographing and showing lions on a kill – personal preference – but up until the moment the young lion appeared out of the thickets we were not exactly sure what they were doing and as wildlife photographers we should try and capture every aspect of nature.. Difficult to watch and photograph but a natural part of life in Africa. That moment, and this image, acts as a reminder that nature can be pretty cruel at times but that every animal has it’s place in the circle of life. This image, simple as it may be, tells that story.
See ya tomorrow! 
Gerry
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It’s a good shot of life.
Paz
I place this under ‘photo journalism’ rather than art. Actually Art Wolfe had a blog article last month on whether such shots are appropriate. He concluded that it’s part of telling of the ‘circle of life’ story.
Buddy,
Thanks for your comment! I would agree that the image is more journalism than art but to me it is purely a wildlife photograph. An image that shows, in a journalistic way if you will, life in the wild. Whether it is a appropriate or not is probably up to each photographer to decide for themselves. I personally don’t like these kind of images all that much purely because I feel that we should rather show the beauty of nature rather than the violence. That being said, moments like these do have some sort of romantic violence that draws us into the moment and tells the story of life on the African plains.
Thanks again!
Gerry
Thanks Paz! Hope all is well in NYC!