Lions nap on road during South African lockdown
However, rangers do not want the lions to start thinking that roads are a safe place just because they are now so still
In South Africa's Kruger National Park, ranger Richard Sowry on Wednesday snapped a pride sleeping on a road which would normally be busy with tourists.
Kruger National Park like other wildlife parks of the country has been shut since 25 March as part of the coronavirus lockdown, reports the BBC.
Sowry said that big cats would usually only be seen by rangers on the roads by night. As a ranger in one of Africa's largest game reserves, Sowry performs an essential service and continues to work during the lockdown, checking on the wildlife and guarding against poachers.
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While driving near Orpen Rest Camp on Wednesday afternoon, he spotted the lions on the road ahead and pulled up just five metres (5.5 yards) away to look at the unusual phenomenon.
As he took photos with his mobile phone, the lions did not seem bothered, most of them apparently fast asleep.
"Lions are used to people in vehicles," he explained.
"All animals have much more of an instinctive fear of people on foot, so if I had walked up they would never have allowed me to get so close."
According to the park ranger, the oldest lioness in the pride is about 14, "which is very old for a lioness", so they are used to seeing vehicles.
Sowry would only see lions sleeping on the park's roads on colder nights in the winter, when the tar retains quite a lot of heat.
However, rangers do not want the lions to start thinking that roads are a safe place just because they are now so still.
These quiet times have also seen lions as well as wild dogs venturing on to a golf course in the park but otherwise Sowry does not think that the lockdown has had any major effect on the animals' behaviour yet.
"Kruger is a very wild place," he says.
"It has been wild and it is still wild.These are difficult times for everyone and the intention was to bring people joy," the park ranger added.
South Africa has recorded 34 deaths of people with Covid-19 and registered 2,506 cases of infection till now - making it the most affected country in Africa.
