The full lion - Marc Slootmaekers - Wildlife Photographer of the Year2009

2009: Animal Portraits - Runner-up

Marc Slootmaekers Enlarge image The full lion

Marc Slootmaekers (Belgium)

The full lion

Every time the lions moved the carcass, a stench of death emanated from under the bushes where the two were feasting. Their breakfast in Kenya's Masai Mara was a buffalo they had killed in the night. When he was full, one male moved out of the shade and onto a termite mound, 'so close that I could hear the flies buzzing around his head,' says Marc, who had arrived at the spot just as the sun rose, to make the most of the soft, early-morning light. The lion stretched and rolled over, exposing his taut belly. 'Then, totally relaxed, he turned and stared straight at me,' with the penetrating look of a supreme predator.

Canon EOS 40D + 100-400mm f5.6 lens at 350mm; 1/700 sec at f6.7; ISO 200; beanbag.