This pride of lions clearly subscribe to ‘the more the merrier’, as six of them were seen climbing into the top of a small tree in Tanzania.
The lions and lionesses were seen climbing up into the tree and somehow managed to all fit onto the branches as two looked on longingly from below.
The incident took place on the Nyati Plains in Grumeti Reserve, Tanzania, earlier this month.
Senior field guide Adas Shemboko captured the moment as he drove across the park with visitors earlier this month.
Mr Shemboko, 45, said: ‘It was a wonderful thing to experience. It doesn’t happen all that often during the day time when it’s hot – lions are very lazy and tend to sleep during the day.
‘We didn’t go specifically to watch the lions, we were just passing by, but it was an awesome sighting.
‘We stayed there an hour watching them climbing and pushing each other, it was great to see.’
He said he spotted the lions from afar as they drove to another part of the reserve and stopped to admire them.
Adas said: ‘As I was driving along from afar I could see the lions in the air.
‘One of the lionesses decided to move a wonderful tree nearby. I told my guests that she would try and climb the tree so we moved forward to watch.
‘It’s common behaviour for the lions to climb to avoid the flies that come with wildebeest at this time of year, it’s just unusual that they’re doing it during the day when it’s hot.
‘The lions here are used to the vehicles and the people, we respect them and give them a comfortable distance so we’re not too close to them.
‘I said to the family I was with ‘if you want to capture a special Christmas photo, this is it’, they really loved it.
‘I love to be in the bush, it’s been a passion of mine since I was young.’
