Wildlife photographer Barbara Jensen Vorster was photographing a pride of lions in Botswana in July when she had her camera “tooted” by a lioness. She luckily had another camera ready and snapped a series of photos showing what happened next.
Vorster was out in the Mashatu Game Reserve with her Canon 7D and Canon 100-400mm lens—a camera kit worth more than $2,000—when she dropped it on the ground by accident.Upon hearing the thud, the protective lioness mother growled and then approached the group to investigate, causing Vorster and her party to retreat in their 44.
“With the camera facing up and the lens looking up, she gently flipped the camera on its side and picked it up by the barrel of the lens,” Vorster says.
The lioness then popped the camera and telephoto lens in her mouth and carried them a distance before dropping them onto the ground. Her cubs then pounced on their new toy and began playing with it.
