Mentioning lions, they appear to be fearless and powerful creatures, as their title ‘the king of the jungle’. These group hunters can cooperate to take down even large prey such as wildebeest or buffalo. But it turns out that sometimes they confront enemies that they couldn’t counter.

The incredible series of photos below shows a whole pride of lions seeking refuge on a tree. What put them up there was nothing of a formidable enemy, but an annoying swarm of flies.

 

 

The lucky photographer who caught this sight was Australian photographer Bobby-Jo Clow. He was on the way leading a photographic safari in the central Serengeti in Tanzania and stumbled upon this lion pride.

“Our guide spotted the pride in the trees and luckily we were able to get close enough to the lions to create some unique images.”

Having a chance to witness and take photos of such a special occasion was definitely a fortune. Bobby-Jo could even get close enough to hear the lions snoring. That was fun taking those pictures, some of them appeared rather clumsy when repositioning. Those big cats could be agile and skillful animals on land. However, they looked quite awkward on the tree as if they would fall to the ground at any moment.

This tree with large horizontal branches seemed to be a favorite getaway of these lions. However, there wasn’t enough room for everyone and the unlucky feline here, interestingly, was the alpha male of the pride.

It’s not easy to be a great leader!

The Serengeti ecosystem covers vast protected areas including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. This place is renowned for its large lion population and is amongst the best places to observe prides in their natural habitat. Other species of mammals and birds are also found here, estimated at about 70 types of large mammals and 500 types of birds.