Lensman takes a shot
The thrill is mixed with sadness for acclaimed wildlife photographer George Logan as he captures stunning shots of lions in Africa because, on every trip, he knows there are fewer to frame.
From hundreds of thousands at the beginning of the last century, there are now fewer than 20,000 in the wild, with the species on a trajectory to become extinct as early as 2050. Logan finds it difficult to understand why the number of statues of lions in London alone could soon outnumber the real thing. He
said: “We’re mad about lions. We’ve got them on our football shirts, flags and money.
“Yo u see them ever ywhere except in the wild. But right under our noses they’re being allowed to drift away. Are we really going to sit by and watch the most iconic predator die out?”
George, born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, became obsessed with animals as a child after watching the film Born Free – the story of Joy and George Adamson raising Elsa the lion cub.
And his very own circle of life has brought him to working with one of t h e Os c a r- w i n n i n g f i l m’s leads, V irginia Mckenna, and her charity foundation named after the 1966 classic.
Their wildlife conservation work is centred around Meru in north- east Kenya, where Elsa the lion was released into the wild in the movie. George is releasing a book
his photographs from across the past decade, titled Pride Before The Fall, with proceeds going to help revive the lion population.
“The book was an effort to make my photography really mean something,” said the 60- year- old. “I really wanted it to be part of something that made a difference.
“We’ve focused our efforts on one area of Kenya, where the population has shrunk down to 60. It used to be 1,000 and they’ve been poached to the brink.”
With the lions sleeping up to 20 hours a day, the trickiest part of photographing them is being able to find them at the right time. “They’re quite a challenge, and there’s a lot of waiting for them to wake up,” George explained. “It’s what