The Marginalian
The Marginalian

The Last Lions: NatGeo Photographers Tell an Urgent Story

By Maria Popova

Last month, National Geographic photographers Beveryly and Dereck Joubert took the TED stage to share some moving lessons from big cats and pull the curtain on the making of The Last Lions — their beautiful and urgent documentary about the dangerous fate of the lions in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, told through the story of one lion family. Though the film is only screening in theaters across New York, LA and DC, the remarkable book of the same name is now out and an absolute, albeit unsettling, treat.

‘Will this lonely little survivor of this grand adventure be allowed to grow up, grow into a mane, and live to dominate a territory? That, as we say in the film, will depend on us.’ | Image credit: Beverly Joubert
‘With two cubs left, Ma di Tau holds them close. She is a good mother in an impossible situation struggling to hunt alone with two cubs to feed.’ | Image credit: Beverly Joubert
‘Against a constant backdrop of buffalo, the lions of Duba are highlights on a dark canvas.’ | Image credit: Beverly Joubert
‘Ironically, the young males of the Skimmer pride may be the best hope for the future of the Tsaro pride, even though they are enemies right now.’ | Image credit: Beverly Joubert
‘A new male on the island seemed familiar and very calm. Then we found his spot pattern in an old photograph, a grown male cub from the Skimmer pride. He is the future of the Tsaro legacy now.’ | Image credit: Beverly Joubert

Bittersweet and poignant, The Last Lions is a stride-stopping story of urgency and hope, reminding us of our duty to honor and protect these powerful yet surprisingly fragile beings of poetic pride and mythic magnificence.

Images via Flavorwire

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Published February 22, 2011
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https://www.themarginalian.org/2011/02/22/the-last-lions/
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