Camera: Sony A7iii

Lens: Tamron E 150-500mm 5-6.7

Aperture: 8

Shutter speed: 1/800

ISO: 640

Description: Three Topi pride lion cubs quench their thirst after filling their bellies with a fresh wildebeest hunt.

Story from behind the lens: The Topi Pride had made two successful wildebeest kills just before dawn this particular cool morning. The group were quite active and we'd just witnessed one of the young males practising asphyxiating one of the dead wildebeest - there was obviously a lot of food to go around, as none of the other lions seemed interested in taking it off him. Then, as if all of a sudden, all of the cubs started following the females' lead and began walking down the hill towards the water. I captured this shot as three of the older cubs were drinking together, with the blurred long grass in the foreground framing the middle cub looking out with a fixed gaze ahead. Looking closer at the cub on the left hand side of the frame, I noticed one of his front claws was missing and it got me wondering about all the possible ways that injury might have happened to him. I'm sure it won't be the last of his battle scars as he grows older and larger.