This extraordinary footage of a close encounter with an elusive black maned Ethiopian lion left the riveted videographer wide-eyed and the rest of the world in awe.
Lions are disappearing from Africa in mass numbers — attributing to less than 20,000 remaining worldwide, leaving small groups of isolated subspecies scattered and suffering from habitat decline, poaching, and inevitable loss of genetic diversity. Since 1980, the world has lost three quarters of its entire lion population.
On a brighter note, a promising report published by National Geographic accounted for a concentration of previously unknown lions in parts of Sudan and Ethiopia.
These findings included an estimated population of about 50 Ethiopian lions. The Ethiopian lion (Panthera leo roosevelti) inhabits mountainous ranges as opposed to the more common sub-Saharan savannah dwelling species.
The Ethiopian lion is remarked for its unusual black mane and smaller body size in comparison to its more populous relatives.
Çağan Şekercioğlu is a National Geographic Explorer and ornithologist based out of the University of Utah. The videographer and photographer had travelled to the area in order to analyze birding sites and was both surprised and excited upon crossing paths with the rare black-maned lion.
The impressive animal curious approached the breathless onlooker, coming within feet of Şekercioğlu’s vehicle.
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“The scientist part of my brain was super excited, but the regular person part just wanted to get out of there,” the photographer admitted.
This sighting has inspired conservationists out of the Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the population of black maned lions in the area, but the region’s remoteness poses undeniable challenges.
