Incredible Photo Shows Proud Lion Standing On Hill Of Bones

A British photographer has captured the incredible moment a proud lion stood on top of a hill of bones.

The dramatic picture shows a 500lbs male lion stood atop a mountain of animal carcasses as he surveys his kingdom, with the golden sun rising behind him.

In another snap, a lioness and a male lion can be seen sniffing around the bones close to their leader, searching for any scraps of meat that might be left.

Simon Neeham is a photographer from Leeds, UK, and captured the dramatic scenes during a visit to the GG Conservation Wildlife Reserve and Lion Sanctuary in South Africa.

The 52-year-old was reportedly standing just 30 feet away from the powerful beasts when he took the snaps with his Canon 1DX Mark II camera.

Speaking about his photos, Simon said he was in awe of the 'lion king'.

He said: "I'd been invited by GG Conservation to generate some marketing content for them. At their location they have a bone yard where all the animal carcasses are taken once the lion's finish eating.

"One morning, I decided to hang there and was lucky enough to catch one large male lion as he stood on top of the bone hill overlooking his land.

"He only stood there for a minute or so, but I was lucky enough to get a few shots before he moved on.

"It was a very exciting moment and one I could have only dreamed of prior to going there that morning.

"I see people interpreting the image in many ways, but I see it as the proud lion king surveying his land."

I wonder how he would fare against the courageous crab that recently fended off an entire pride of lions in South Africa.

The unlikely encounter was captured on camera at the MalaMala Game Reserve by rangers Ruggiero Barreto, 30, and Robyn Sewell, 27, who watched the drama as it unfolded.

Unusually, the freshwater crab had come out of its burrow during daylight, and was hoping to cross a river.

However, as it went about its day, the small crustacean was spotted by the Kambula pride of lions and lionesses - who came over to take a look.

At first, one of the sub-adults moseyed over to examine the crab, which went up on its back legs and raised its pincers to intimidate the predator.

Moments later, four other curious young lions joined, tentatively peering down at the crab as it kept them at bay with its snapping pincers.

The 275lb lions proved wary of the crab and did little else than observe it as it moved across the sand, eventually making it back to its burrow.

Featured Image Credit: Simon Needham/Media Drum World

Topics: south africa, Lions

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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