For BBC Wildlife Magazine

Some years ago, conservation biologist Dr. Alayne Oriol-Cotterill was tracking, on foot, a radio-collared lion through miombo woodland in Zimbabwe.  The GPS signal was weakening, suggesting the lion was moving away.  Alayne started to sprint and, having scrambled through dense thicket, burst into a grassy clearing.

The first thing she saw at her feet was the bright red ribcage of a kudu’s carcass. The next was several lionesses, crouched over their kill.  They looked up at her, startled.  Alayne backed away slowly, her heart thumping furiously.  The lions didn’t move …

Photographs © James Warwick