Our next stop after the chimps was the lion exhibit. Our zoo has a really gorgeous lion exhibit. There's actually meerkats on the other side of the exhibit and they used to have a warthog right there, too, but he got all nervous having people around and they had to move him to a bigger, more isolated space. Anyway, Lion King. You can't help thinking of the movie when you walk through. Especially since we're all in a Disney frame of mind anyway.
We've been going to the zoo for fifteen years. The exhibit has been open for a decade or so. I have never seen those lions doing anything but laying around. Kind of like our fat cats at home.
This visit was different. It was clearly mating season for the lions and the lioness... she was just not going to let Mr. Lion get any rest.
She would pace. And then she'd pounce.
I would think about how at any point in this, they could rip the throat of the other one. They didn't. But there was a lot of roaring and growling happening. Just hearing it kind of made my knees weak. It's all fun and games when you're sitting there looking at sleeping lions and they look like fat cats. It's another thing when you hear that roar and realize they are still wild animals.
After they'd wrestle, they'd lay next to each other for a few minutes.
And then it would all start over.
These photos were taken by Kiah, who is trying to learn how to use the little point and shoot we got for Christmas. I think she did a great job of capturing the action.
