{"id":668856,"date":"2026-03-20T09:44:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/668856\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T09:44:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T09:44:25","slug":"wildlife-photographer-snaps-surprisingly-humorous-moment-lion-cub-needs-to-nap-after-a-big-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/668856\/","title":{"rendered":"Wildlife Photographer Snaps ‘Surprisingly Humorous’ Moment Lion Cub Needs to Nap After a Big Meal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lion<\/p>\n

Lion cub lies down after a big meal at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa
Credit: \u00a9Johan J Botha<\/p>\n

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

\u2022 Wildlife photographer Johan J Botha captured a lion cub in a food coma after a big meal in South Africa
\u2022 Botha observed lions feasting on a gemsbok in 104-degree heat and documented their post-meal behavior
\u2022 Adult African lions can eat over 80 pounds of meat in one sitting<\/p>\n

Humans may have more in common with lions than they realize. For example, food comas affect both species.<\/p>\n

Wildlife photographer Johan J Botha<\/a> captured evidence that lions go into food comas, too, while on a visit to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa, where he snapped a shot of a lion cub taking a belly-up rest after a big meal.<\/p>\n

Botha, who has been photographing wild animals, mainly in Africa, for decades, got the shot during a January visit to the national park. The photographer told Peta Pixel<\/a> that while on the trip, he spotted a family of lions feasting on a gemsbok they had killed. A gemsbok is a large antelope species with long, straight horns, also called a South African oryx.<\/p>\n

\"Adult<\/p>\n

Adult lion eating a gemsbok
Credit: \u00a9Johan J Botha<\/p>\n

Despite temperatures topping 104 degrees Fahrenheit that day, Botha stayed put to observe and photograph the hungry big cats and was rewarded for his patience.<\/p>\n

“We spent a long time with them in the intense heat \u2014 but it proved both rewarding and surprisingly humorous,” Botha said of the moment, according to Peta Pixel.<\/p>\n

\"Lion<\/p>\n

Lion cleaning its face after gorging on a gemsbok in South Africa
Credit: \u00a9Johan J Botha<\/p>\n

The experienced photographer captured several shots he had never taken before, including photos of an adult male lion licking his face clean after a meal.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the most surprising and “disarmingly human” photo he got that day was of a lion cub sprawled out on its back, full belly facing the sky, digesting its big meal during the hot day. It appears the little lion learned the behavior from its elders, because Botha also captured a photo of an adult male lion exhibiting the same food coma behavior.<\/p>\n

\"Adult<\/p>\n

Adult lion lying down after a large meal at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa
Credit: \u00a9Johan J Botha<\/p>\n

“The cub managed one last lazy glance in my direction before drifting into deep sleep,” Botha added of the adorable moment.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for<\/strong> PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/strong><\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Nat Geo Wild<\/a>, it is common for African lions to gorge on a big kill, with adult lions sometimes eating over 80 pounds of meat in one sitting. Large meals like this one satiate lions for several days, preventing them from having to hunt daily.<\/p>\n

More of Botha’s impressive array of wildlife photography can be viewed on his website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lion cub lies down after a big meal at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South AfricaCredit: \u00a9Johan J Botha…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":668857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[282555,282554,130349,159,67,132,68,837,64382],"class_list":{"0":"post-668856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-food-coma","9":"tag-johan-j-botha","10":"tag-lion-cub","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-wildlife","16":"tag-wildlife-photographer"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116260861852144654","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=668856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/668856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/668857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=668856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=668856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=668856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}