While it's completely natural for things to die, that idea doesn't make it easier to see something walking around looking frail AF and on the brink of death. Sadly, a photographer has captured an emaciated looking lion at Kruger National Park in South Africa after he had been abandoned by his pride.
Apparently, this King of the Jungle was called Skybed Scar and was well known at the park.
Larry Anthony Pannell was the photographer who captured the heartbreaking images while on a trip from his native California.
He wrote on his blog: "After he had his fill of water he struggled to his feet, hardly able to stand. What you did not notice while he was drinking, he literally was nothing but skin and bones. It was evident he was in his last days if not his last hours on this earth.
"We found him lying in the grass, exhausted, unable to move. We were no more than five feet from him as he lay dying in the shade of a tree.
"Dropping my camera, we stared at one another locking eyes for what seemed for an eternity. I just wanted him to know that he would not die alone as he struggled to breathe, his chest rising only every so often."
The American noted that it was a profound feeling to witness such a beast die naturally in the wild. He says their group watched for an hour while Skybed slowly died - which sounds like a pretty agonising experience.
He added: "Not wanting to sound crass I remember when my grandmother was in the hospital and I visited her for the last time the night she passed.
"We did not say a word, both of us just knew this was the end and we just stared at each other, locking eyes. This is the first time since then that I felt the same feeling - connecting with another being on a spiritual level, just knowing."
It's similar to the story LADbible brought you last year when photos emerged of a polar bear rummaging around a not-so-frozen landscape.
National Geographic photographer Paul Nicklen captured the distressing footage of the animal struggling to stand up properly and scavenging through a rusted bin.
Paul wrote on Instagram: "My entire Sea Legacy team was pushing through their tears and emotions while documenting this dying polar bear.
"It's a soul-crushing scene that still haunts me, but I know we need to share both the beautiful and the heartbreaking if we are going to break down the walls of apathy. This is what starvation looks like. The muscles atrophy. No energy. It's a slow, painful death."
In both these circumstances, people will likely ask why no one offered the animals some food to keep them going. Not only it is illegal in the case of the polar bear, but it's also wildly unhelpful as all it will do is prolong the animal's life by maybe a few seconds.
That's nature for you.
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