Camera: Canon R5

Lens: 400mm 2.8 III +1.4 extender

Aperture: F4

Shutter speed: 1/800

ISO: 160

Description: Lion cub grabs on to his mother during playful stalking practice.

Story from behind the lens: We found the Enkoyanai pride one morning feeding on a wildebeest kill & the three lionesses & cubs had all enjoyed a good feed. As the scene was quite chaotic I was looking out for opportunities where I could isolate some of the action. I noticed that one of the cubs at the back was going into a stalking pose looking towards one of the lionesses & knew he was going to punch on her. This was the moment when he had grabbed on to her rear. Play such as this is so key to a cubs development although painful to the mother!