This is when a dopey lion narrowly avoided being trampled to d.e.ath by a huge elephant with only his whiskers.
The thirsty lion was too absorbed in quenching his thirst at a waterhole in Botswana to hear the approaching footsteps of an elephant from behind.
The elephant was only seconds away from trampling the lion with one foot raised just inches above its head.
The lion looked up just before being crushed, and it ran away.
The action in Nxai Pans in Botswana was caught on camera by observer Johan Bernard, 49.
The photographer from South Africa said: It was late in the afternoon and rapidly getting dark.
There were no other animals at the waterhole at this time, only the male lion. He began drinking without even looking up for a long time.
‘In the distance, we saw the elephant bull, also directly on his way to the waterhole. The lion, who was surprisingly not alert at all, kept on drinking and didn’t hear or notice the elephant.
‘When the lion was around two to three meters away, he lifted his head and saw the elephant, and ran away.’
