The male in the golden light of a Kalahari dawn

This is a rare black-maned lion of the Kalahari, a semi-desert area in the center of Botswana. He and his pride decided to hang out around our camp so we got some up close and personal photos of this magnificent beast and his family. Our guide assured us he would tolerate us in our Land Rover (a totally open vehicle and nothing between him and us) as long as we didn't make sudden movements or noise.

His pride of ten consisted of 4 females and 5 juveniles. What a privilege to watch them in action. This was early morning when he was moving his pride from one part of the area to another, more shady area, after a night of hunting.

We watched him scout out the area, marking the territory, while the rest of the pride hung back 100 feet or so. Then he lay down in the grass and called them with a low-throaty sound that sent shivers all over me. They came, as subsequent pictures will show.

I took this photo in the Kalahari area of Botswana.

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