Addo Lion

[Ken Watkins]

One of two fine males we found in the undergrowth inAddo Elephant National Park, 18th April 21012

EOS 1D MkIV

500mm F4 hand-held

F5.6 ISO 1000 (?), 1/2000

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi ken,
I like the detail you have in your image and the composition. It is so nice to see the lions in Addo as they were originally introduced from the Kgalagadi. Some of them were last year moved to the Karoo National Park in the hope that the jackal population can be kept under control, but I don't know how successful this attempt will be.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes,
Mark.

[Ken Watkins]

Mark,

Thanks for your appreciation, we were lucky and saw two male coalitions of two, this was one of the fully grown ones and magnificent, the mane was that good that it hid most of the collar, not apparent in this image.
Never found the females though.

The Lions in Karoo NP proved even more elusive, but the plains game certainly looked skittish.

[Harshad Barve]

This mighty fine image Ken , love the pose and specimen , added linear contrast and 6 points YELLOWS in color balance and opened shadows little bit , WDYT ?
TFS

[Rachel Hollander]

Ken - strong looking male and I like the vertical comp here. Harshad's repost has given it a little more pop. Either way I think it needs a tad more selective sharpening.

TFS,
Rachel

[Ken Watkins]

Harshad,

Thanks for the re-post, it has just disappeared?

[Dumay de Boulle]

Looks like a thug. (Do you know if the Addo Lions have Kruger blood?) This looks like a Kruger lion... I like what Harshad has done with the colors.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Looks like a thug. (Do you know if the Addo Lions have Kruger blood?) This looks like a Kruger lion... I like what Harshad has done with the colors.

I too like Harshad's repost, added some pop. Nice to see there are some big males again, Ken, they moved them all out a year or 2 ago.

Dumay - as Mark mentioned, the Addo lions came entirely from the Kgalagadi, and most of those that have been removed now to private reserves and to Karoo National Park had the distinct Kalahari look with the very black manes. This one does look like a Kruger lion - well spotted...yet I'm sure his bloodlines tie him back to the originals that came from KTP...don't know if anyone else has more information on whether Addo received lions from elsewhere...? :e3

[Ken Watkins]

Harshad,

Your re-post is now back, I wonder where it went?
On my monitor I think that the colours are a bit too rich for my taste:w3

Can either Morkel or Dumay please explain the differences between Lions in Kruger and Kgalagadi?

[Sid Garige]

Very nice image Ken. Like the tight closeup.