A remote-controlled car isn’t the first thing an African lion would expect to encounter while hunting.
But this lioness decided to take a closer look as the tiny car crossed her path in the Kenyan wilderness – even taking a bite to see if it was worth eating.
The vehicle is fitted with a special camera used by Australian photographer Chris Bray, 29, to capture stunning close-up shots of wild animals on a safari in Africa.
The device was so successful that Mr. Bray even managed to get a stunning image of the inside of a lion’s mouth. The car got too close to an elephant and almost destroyed it by stepping on it.
But his pictures of curious lions are perhaps the cutest, as they capture the animals sniffing, pouncing, and biting the vehicle as they try to figure out if it was worth eating.
Lionesses often hunt while male lions watch their young. They sneak on their intended victims until they reach a distance of about 100ft or less.
Several lionesses often work together and surround their intended prey before a.tta.cking them.
Their usual prey is a variety of large mammals, but they prefer wildebeest, antelope, zebra, buffalo, and warthogs in Africa.
Most lions live in eastern and southern Africa. Their population is in rapid decline – decreasing between 30 and 50% in the last 20 years.
Populations of African lions range in size from 16,500 to 47,000 in the wild, up from 400,000 in 1950.
The decline has been fuelled by epidemics, hunting, and other forms of human intervention.
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