Stunning Photographs Captured In Kenya Of Morani, The Oldest Lion In The Country
Updated: Jan 9, 2022
14-year-old Morani is believed to be the oldest known living lion in a national reserve in Kenya. These beautiful images were captured by a professional wildlife photographer.
Whilst shooting in Kenya, professional wildlife photographer Leighton Lum came face to face with a lion known as Morani. At 14-years-old, Morani is the oldest known lion in Kenya.
The 33-year-old photographer Leighton Lum managed to capture a beautiful array of photos of the majestic Morani in the Maasai Mara, a national reserve in Keyna that is famous for its large populations of elephants, cheetahs, leopards, and lions. The reserve, which is more commonly referred to as The Mara, hosts the annual Great Migration of wildebeest from Tanzania to Kenya.
The magnificent Morani took the top spot of the "oldest lion" after passing the previous record holder, his brother, Scarface, earlier in the year.
The photographer, Leighton Lum works out of Hawaii and was visiting Kenya for a photo workshop when he captured these astonishing images.
Leighton Lum said: "Just by looking at his face, you can tell this guy has been through a lot, he went from a young stud leader of a pride, a king, to a retired old man who still fights for survival in the Mara."
"Morani was a part of a coalition of four males and he’s the only one remaining out of the four,” Lum says. "He is a lone male who has been pushed out of the pride by younger, stronger males which is a natural process in lions as the strongest males will control the pride."
"In general, adult male lions are lazy by nature and can sleep for 20 hours a day!" Lum says.
"We spotted him in the morning, then went back at the very end of the day only to find him no more than 15 feet from where we left him. Even when he does get up and sit down, it is a rather slow process."
Image credits: Photographs by Leighton Lum