A wildlife photographer has captured a remarkable gay encounter between adult male lions. Photo / Paul Goldstein/Cover Images
A wildlife photographer has captured a remarkable gay encounter between adult male lions.
Paul Goldstein,who guides for Exodus Travels in the UK, spotted the big cats engaging in seemingly affectionate love-making in August this year.
He first observed them standing side-by-side in Kenya's Masai Mara, before one lay down and was gently mounted by the other.
At one point one lion's head was resting on the other's.
"Sometimes you just see something that takes your breath away. I was guiding in the Masai Mara recently and we saw two impressive alpha males in perfect light," the photographer said.
"After a while they stood together, in perfect symmetry. What then happened was remarkable and no-one could explain it. I have heard of this happening in Botswana but with nothing like this vigour, and indeed at various zoos and safari parks, but incarcerated animals will do strange things, who can blame them.
"This however was astonishing. I normally loathe any sort of humanising with animals and our documentary channels are full of it, but this was not only surprising but it was impossible not to smile," he added.
Goldstein explained that when lions normally mate it only lasts a few seconds.
"These two were at it for over a minute and the obvious affection afterwards was very evident, as opposed to the violent withdrawal when male and female mate.
"Even as he dismounted he did not back off as is normal after mating, he crept round to the other male's muzzle, for a nuzzle and threw a conspiratorial wink his way," he described.
"Fellow guides have told me it is about territory, asserting authority and just 'playing', but none of this is based on any sort of provenance. Maybe they just have feet in both 'camps'."
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