As its face was licked clean by the two adoring aunts, this lion cub appears quite satisfied to absorb in their attention.
Amazing photos show the three-month-old cub in a desirable position during the pride’s early morning grooming ritual in Kenya’s Masai Mara.
As the pride joined shortly after daylight, the cub was washed thoroughly while sitting bolt upright between two calm older females.
The pride was photographed just after dawn at a time when the big cats often groom themselves as part of the bonding process
Mark Boyd, the Director of the conservation organization Safari Collection Footprint Foundation, captured these wonderful images at Sala’s Camp.
‘I was loving this extremely special and private moment with a family of lions I’d known and spent a lot of time with for the preceding seven years,’ he explained.
‘The two adult lionesses belong to the Sala’s Pride, and the youngster is about three months old. We left camp early in the morning to try to locate this pride of lions before daybreak after hearing them roaring nearby. As the morning rose, we discovered them grooming and stretching.’
Mark said the future for the little cub looks increasingly pressured as lion populations dwindle in the wild
The lion gave out a raw as it rested with two lionesses just after sunrise. Mark said: ‘There were once millions of lions in the world and their population is now reduced to just 20,000 and rapidly dropping’
The cub seemed perfectly content to allow the older lionesses to lick its face, unlike human children who are less keen on having their faces cleaned by a saliva-moistened tissue
Although lions are common in the Maasai Mara where these photos were taken, this is not the case in most of their former range where they have already disappeared or are clinging on in small, threatened, populations
Three lion cubs lay together as the photographer enjoyed watching the pride start their morningÂ
The grooming continued for the cubs of the pride as the lions engaged in a bonding session at the break of the day
