Tag: male lion

African Lion, Lion

Male Lion with Facial Wound, Serengeti National Park

The face of this malelion shows many scars from fighting. Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. It has a large open wound under his right eye and his upper lip exposes his teeth at all times. (Jim Coda)

Male Lion with Open Facial Wound

I saw several male lions in Serengeti National Park and, as I recall, they all had some wound and/or scars on their faces.  This guy was the worst though.  The wound under his right eye looks like it could be serious.  He has lost all his skin over the area and I’m  wondering if flies might lay eggs in the wound.  On the other hand, I’ve seen TV documentaries where lions had worse wounds and they recovered.  I hope this guy makes it.  I don’t know how old he is, but he has some other problems.  There is something wrong with his upper lip.  The two sides of his upper lip don’t come together and you can see several of his upper and lower teeth.  Plus, based on another photo, I don’t think he has his upper left fang and his lower left fang is broken and black in the center which may indicate an exposed nerve and/or infection.  Life  in the wild is tough – even if you’re a male lion.

On the other hand, we saw him mating with one of the females in his pride, so he’s still king of his area of the Serengeti.

To see a larger photo, click on my portfolio.

African Lion

African Lions Are in Trouble

A male lion moves therough the grasslands of the Serengeti, (Jim Coda)

I saw a lot of lions in Serengeti National Park.  When  I say “a lot” I mean that in relative terms.  According to the African Wildlife Foundation, the lion population has decreased by 43% in the past 21 years (as of 2015).  https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion

Basically, all African wildlife is in trouble.  The causes are many.  One thing my trip caused me to do was focus more on wildlife problems outside the United States.  The African Wildlife Foundation is dedicated to saving African wildlife.  I’m now a member.  If you’re concerned about African wildlife, please consider joining this organization at the link above.