Scar (b&w)

Maasai Mara Kenya 2017
An edition of 25 in all sizes

Of all Africa's lions Scar has been one of the most recognisable in the past ten years, unmistakable for his black mane and his ever present red scar over his right eye.

I first encountered Scar in 2012, not long after his Four Musketeers coalition (the others being Morani, Sikio and Hunter) took over the Marsh Pride in the western part of the Maasai Mara. From there they moved to the Serena area before venturing further east a few years later. There has been debate on the origin of his scar (his top eyelid is missing but his eye is ok), the main consensus being that it was clawed during a territorial fight with a rival. Whatever it is, he has carried it all his adult life, at times in states of raw, other times in healing, which possibly accounts for his irascible nature.

Since I began collecting portraits of big lions, Scar was high on my list. Save for a few substandard efforts, his portrait proved to be elusive until August 2017 when he cut me this one cursory glance. Younger lions are curious and may hold a gaze, but the older ones have no such inclination for portraits. You just have to be ready in case they find a half second for you.

Scar is in his twilight years now, replete with a permanent limp which keeps him to a more confined area of his territory. The reality is that every encounter now with him is a potential goodbye. But as he was recently crowned the Maasai Mara's oldest lion, he's not done yet.