Kafara is seen as the most dominant of the three boys at the Big Cat Sanctuary, is the largest and has the darkest mane. He also has the most scarred face of the three although it doesn’t make him any less handsome.
He is a lovely steady boy but has a very bad habit of knocking on the enclosure door when he is locked in the house for cleaning purposes.
The lions at WHF, The Big Cat Sanctuary show many of the behaviours they would in the wild. Typically 16-20+hrs a day will be spent sleeping. Lions will not expend energy unless they have to. When they are active they can be seen walking along the edges of their enclosure. This is simply territorial pacing, a normal behaviour in which males will walk around the edges of their territory. The two brothers will also carry out social interactions such as grooming one another and roaring. Our males will roar together most evenings and early mornings. Studies of lions roaring suggest that the purpose of the roar can be a territorial display, a spacing mechanism, a way of ensuring the group stays together or a combination of the three. Regardless of the purpose it is a very impressive sound that can travel as far as 5 miles.
Date: 01/10/2018
Location: Big Cat Sanctaury Kent
Photographer: Paul Russell