This is the moment a lion lived up to a different sort of ‘pride’ when he pinned down another male in an apparent bid to mate with him – while a surly lioness looked on exasperated.
Amateur wildlife photographer Russ Bridges captured the spectacle at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster.
The images show one of the male lions stride over to his mate, mount him and pin him down then apparently attempt to mate.
The big cat even appeared to stick his tongue out at open-mouthed park visitors while on top of the other lion.
The lion was seen pinning down another male in an apparent bid to mate with him – while a surly lioness looked on exasperated
Amateur wildlife photographer Russ Bridges captured the spectacle at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster
The cheeky big cat even appeared to stick his tongue out at open-mouthed park visitors while on top of his friend
Mr Bridges from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, said: ‘There are two males and female in that pride. One of the lions suddenly got up, walked over and jumped on his friend’s back.
‘A fair few people were watching this going on and laughing – they were all commenting on what it looked like.
‘I think it was a bit of a ‘should have gone to Specsavers’ moment as the lioness was just lying there next to them.
‘In fairness though, every time a male went near her she snarled and swiped their faces with her paw.
‘It’s not really unusual for them to act that way sometimes. I don’t know if it’s a dominance thing or something like that – it looks as if they are aggressive, but it’s all play between friends.’
The images show one of the male lions stride over to his mate, mount him and pin him down
Warehouse shift manager Mr Bridges, 42, said he’d snapped lions at the wildlife park before but it was the first time he’d seen them playing together
Warehouse shift manager Mr Bridges, 42, said he’d photographed lions at the wildlife park before but it was the first time he’d seen them playing together.
He said: ‘Usually they lay asleep doing nothing when I go to photograph them, but this time they were up and about.
‘My favourite shot is the one where he appears to be sticking his tongue out.
‘I’ve never seen a shot of two males on top of one another with one sticking his tongue out before – it’s like he’s showing some pride in what he’s doing.
‘I absolutely adore animals, I can’t even bring myself to kill a fly or a spider, and love the conservation work that the park do.’