Photographer Captures Big Cats Sleeping on Big CATS
A photographer in Tanzania captured a set of amusing photos showing a pride of lions snoozing on Caterpillar construction vehicles.
The cat on CAT images were captured by wildlife photographer Bobby-Jo Vial who was in the Ngorongoro Crater, part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, leading a photo tour.
“The CAT vehicles were on the edges of the crater in an area called Jackal Hill,” explains Bobby-Jo.
“It was a Sunday, so no work was happening, and the lions used that to their advantage and decided to rest the entire day on top of the machinery.”
The huge CAT vehicles are used to maintain tourist roads around the remnants of an ancient volcano.
“The tourist roads must be maintained on a regular basis so large machinery is left in the crater to assist with the road maintenance,” adds Bobby-Jo.
“So, we had big cats on big CATS. Imagine turning up to work on a Monday morning and finding a pride of lions on your work vehicles. Just another day in Africa.”
Just Like House Cats
Australian shooter Bobby-Jo says that much like their far smaller descendants, the house cat, lions will take a nap anywhere they can find.
“The guests and I thought that it was quite typical of cats to claim the most unusual and inconvenient place to rest, just like our house cats do,” she says.
“It was a perfect spot out of the wet grass and away from the insects and also a great height to look across the crater floor for potential prey and threats from other lions.”
“The guests and I laughed when we realized the irony of the cat sitting on the CAT and we just knew we had to capture some photos of the scene,” she adds.
As part of her expedition, Bobby-Jo spent the day with the Kope Lion charity which is a conservation initiative that helps with research that protects Ngorongoro’s lions.
“The founder of the charity, Mama Simba, said she had never seen the lions on top of the machinery in her 17 years of monitoring lions in the crater. It was a new sight for her and the team.”
The lionesses are part of the Mungedge pride, a breakaway group from the better-known Munge pride that rules the area.
More of Bobby-Jo’s work can be found on her website and Instagram.
Image credits: Bobby-Jo Photography/Magnus News
