Adrian Steirn has followed lions across South Africa, chasing a distinctive shot of the ubiquitously photographed animal. On a trip to Sabi Sands, he found it. But it wasn’t what he expected. Just a few days after photographing a male from the Othawa pride, its body was found, barely decomposed. The jarring discovery revealed a nuanced consequence of human behaviour – vultures and hyenas had diverted their attention to a poached rhino, leaving the lion largely untouched. “The natural process had been disrupted, and we disrupted it,” Steirn says. “The ecosystem can’t even clean up after itself.” With approximately 20 000 lions left in the wild, photographing these animals is no longer a celebration of their majesty, but a documentation of their last stand. Each image is a reminder of what we have to lose, and the urgent need for action. “When you impact the ecosystem, things start to suffer. And we have impacted our ecosystem, we have impacted our natural world,” Steirn says. “There is no doubt that we will also suffer.” Footage by Adrian Steirn was used in the creation of this film.
Up Next in Season 1
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Australia's Indigenous Wildlife
Australia is home to some of the strangest creatures on Earth, and Aboriginal people have coexisted with them for millennia. But now, the country is experiencing an unprecedented mammal extinction rate. So what’s different? We look at the changes brought upon by settlers to Australia, and conside...
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Tortoise
Will the slow and steady tortoise outlive the human race? For over 200 million years tortoises have evolved and adapted to their environment. Some have the ability to store up to 40% of their body weight in water, and others can live for a year without drinking or eating. Unfortunately, these sur...
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Caribou
Caribou are essential to the livelihoods and identity of indigenous communities. But this species is on the decline as the result of a changing climate, logging, and mining. Habitat loss disrupts their migratory routes, placing caribou calves in greater danger from predation. First Nations in Can...
