Photo of the Day: April 7, 2017
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CREATION: THE WORLD AROUND US – SONY 2017 Photography Awards | 1st Place National Award | Photo by Deveni Nishantha Manjula
This week we are featuring some of the best photos submitted to the Sony 2017 Photography awards. These high-res photos of animals in their natural environments are breathtaking and vibrant.
LAKE NAKURU, Kenya – September 2016: During a game drive in Lake Nakuru national park, Deveni Manjula’s group noticed this lioness on a tree. With the reputation of tree-climbing lions in Lake Nakuru, they were not surprised to see this. With the light levels depleting quickly due to adverse weather conditions, Manjula took this picture to highlight the environment of the subject.
Nakuru means “dust or dusty place” in the Masai language. It is famous for the vast quantity of flamingos that make its shores their home and feast on algae in the lake. The Lake Nakuru area is home to a wide array of wildlife, providing a fresh water source for warthogs, baboons, small mammals, rhinos of several variety, and of course lions.
Sitting at the top of their food chains, lions are the royalty of the bush. The females do most of the hunting, leaving the males with their furry manes to watch the cubs. The male saves his energy to fight other males who would take the pride from them. Male lions have manes to protect themselves from such skirmishes, providing protection from the jaws of an opponent. Since lions are on the top of the food-chain, female lions do not require manes to hunt, since their prey do not usually attack their necks. The only animal that poses a threat to lions is the Nile crocodile.
While it is rare to see a lion climb a tree, they have been known to climb in order to steal a kill from a leopard … or to just relax, as this picture clearly shows.
See more photos here.
