As long ago as the first century the lion was elevated to the position of ‘king of beasts’ because of its tremendous strength and majestic appearance. Although their habitat is continually being destroyed and they come into conflict with farmers and their livestock, huge tracts of land both inside and outside of reserves still harbor lions, particularly in the African countries of Kenya and Tanzania. Here the lion leads a natural life, roaming at will and preying largely on the local fauna.

The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, where Larry researched the lion, has long been famous for these magnificent cats. Larry found the Serengeti to be a great place to photograph lions because they largely ignore being closely approached in a vehicle and go about their normal behavior. Larry found the lion so fascinating that he took over 2000 slides of this specie alone.

Among the many old lions that he studied, one in particular stood out. It was a battle-scarred old male with a dark mane. It was apparent he was a veteran of many battles. His ripped nostril, missing canine, and torn ears were all clues he had survived many conflicts. Only the old male knows whether these scars are the result of defending his pride from rival males, settling a question of dominance, or territorial disputes with other males. The male lion leads a difficult life. He doesn’t mature until age 4 or 5 and then rules for only a few years before being replaced by a challenging male or group of males.

On the average, lions spend about two hours a day walking and one hour a day eating. The rest of the day, often 20 hours or more, the cats are largely inactive. In “Serengeti Warrior – African Lion”, Larry has captured the old male at rest.