The King is dead......long live the king!

[Marc Mol]

Very sad news from the Serengeti earlier this week, Snyggve aka BJ (Bob Jnr), the most famous lion in the Serengeti was killed in a vicious fight with 3 younger males. Having just returned from the area, I was fortunate to see him for what was the last time looking as majestic as ever!
He was a long time ruler of the Namiri Plains together with his coalition partner Tryggve.
BJ was the son of the legendary C-Boy or Bob as he was more colloquially known and one part of the formidable team Bob & Ziggy (Hildur) BJ was dominant in Namiri for 7 of his long lived 12 years and sadly this beautiful male has now died fighting an honourable death among lions.
We pay our respects and say goodbye to what was the Brad Pitt equivalent of lions throughout the entire Serengeti. So loved was this boy, his death was even mentioned on BBC's online news.

RIP BJ, 2011-2023, it was an absolute honour to have known and photograph you for the greater part of your magnificent life!

Nikon D850
Nikkor 70-200E FL VR f/2.8
f/4
1/1000s
ISO560@ 200mm

Cheers
Marc

[Jonathan Ashton]

Compositiona nd lighting is amazing. I am a little uneasy over the processing on the lion, I may be wrong but I sense the processing has been pushed to get the detail, I wonder if a little more sympathetic approach would have been better??

[Andreas Liedmann]

RIP BJ ....
Hope you had a wonderful life for the most part .

Stunning scene captured Marc , love the fantastic sky .

TFS Andreas

[Marc Mol]

Thanks Jonathan

Compositiona nd lighting is amazing. I am a little uneasy over the processing on the lion, I may be wrong but I sense the processing has been pushed to get the detail, I wonder if a little more sympathetic approach would have been better??

The D850 has superb dynamic range Jonathan, and have not pushed this very far at all, granted we're at a relatively low ISO allowing for the full possibilities of the DR. Happy to show you just the lion @ 100% if you like.

My point of this post was more about the story than just the image itself.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Thank you for sharing Marc,

Very sad to learn about this lion's passing. He was indeed a legend and I had knowledge of his existence even though I've never been to the Serengeti. You are indeed extremely fortunate to have spent time with him and to have captured his majestic presence on camera.

Well framed and lovely pose from Bob Jnr. against that beautiful dramatic sky, such a wonderful memory.

Kind regards,