Lovely tender moment uniquely captured, Ben...with that great Kalahari BG.
I find the image overall a bit "hazy" and felt a touch of contrast was needed, so in the repost I added some local contrast enhancement by using the "Unsharp Mask" function at 20%, 50px...I also reduced overall brightness just a tad.
I would submit this one to contests b/c it is so unique and such a tender moment. I like Morkel's repost except that I think I would like the BG de-saturated just a tad so that the lions will stand out a little more agains the BG.