Pangolin Photo Safaris

I had discovered a half-eaten kudu carcass the previous morning in Botswana's Kalahari, which was probably killed by a female cheetah I subsequently spotted nearby. After a day the vultures had reduced it to skin and bones, but I was still hopeful it might attract some nocturnal predators, so arrived on the scene several hours before dawn the following morning . A lioness, who had formed a pairing with a young male (possibly her brother) and were intruders in the territory soon arrived on the scene. When the female left to drink, the male hurriedly tried to feed on the remains but struggled to get a grip on his meal, for a split-second adopting this almost playful pose, which was made all the more macabre by the skinless skull. To my mind, the scene represented a brutally honest portrayal of Africa's apex predator - a hunter first and foremost. This brutal truth was accentuated by the stark, minimalist backdrop, which lended itself to a black and white conversion. After this shot, the lion grasped the entire carcass in his jaws and trotted off to safety in an effort to keep his prize to himself.