Lion wakes up with a ruffled mane in South African wildlife park

Bad hair day! Dishevelled king of the jungle wakes up with a ruffled mane in South African wildlife park

• Tonga the lion was pictured after a catnap by photographer Simon Needham
• His mane is particularly messy and looked ‘dazed and confused’ when he woke
• The lion lives in Glen Garriff Conservation in Harrismith, South Africa, one of 77

This king of the jungle appears to be having a bad hair day after waking up to a ruffled royal mane.

Looking as though he had just got out of bed, this lion was pictured with his wayward lustrous locks at Glen Garriff Conservation in Harrismith, South Africa.

Photographed by Simon Needham, who was patiently waiting for the perfect moment as the conservation’s largest male woke up from a cat nap.

The lion, called Tonga, can be seen looking slightly less than regal in the pictures Simon patiently waited for.

Tonga is one of 77 lions at the conservation, all of which live out the duration of their lives in the sanctuary.

Photographer Simon, who runs an Instagram page called @human.kind.photography, said: ‘I shoot for many wildlife charities, this image was shot for GG Conservation in South Africa to help them promote themselves for fundraisers. 

‘I had to wait for Tonga to wake up from his nap but when he did he looked completely out of it so I had to capture that moment.

‘I had to laugh, he looked dazed and confused for a second before he shook himself off. 

‘People love to see lions but when it’s one that is in need of a serious haircut it certainly draws loving empathy and a giggle from people.

‘Capturing images like this takes patience but it’s also amazing to be able ot just sit with such a beautiful creature so for me it was a pleasure.’ 

In the wild, the mane of a lion was thought to protect the males neck during fights with rivals, but in reality, lions mostly attack one another on the back and hips.

Studies have found that the size and colour of a mane acts as a signal to other lions showing the fitness and dominance of a male, and darker manes are better at attracting females.  

Looking as though he had just got out of bed, this lion, called Tonga was pictured with his wayward lustrous locks at Glen Garriff Conservation in Harrismith, South Africa

Photographed by Simon Needham, who was patiently waiting for the perfect moment as the conservation’s largest male woke up from a cat nap

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Photographer Simon said: ‘I shoot for many wildlife charities, this image was shot for GG Conservation in South Africa to help them promote themselves for fundraisers’

Simon Needham, behind the photographs, said: ‘People love to see lions but when it’s one that is in need of a serious haircut it certainly draws loving empathy and a giggle from people’

Researchers have found that darker manes are better at attracting females in the lion kingdom (file photo)

Studies have found that the size and colour of a mane acts as a signal to other lions showing the fitness and dominance of a male (file photo)

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