Two Male Lions Attempting To Mate While Lioness Looks On

A pair of male lions has been caught attempting to mate at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in the north of England. The pair is amongst of the 13 lions that are placed at the English animal reserve.Homosexuality?It is not unusual for lions to behave that way, Homosexual behavior in lions, especially in male lions, is actually fairly common

Amateur wildlife photographer Russ Bridges snapped the pictures on August 19. Bridges captured one of the male lions moving towards the other male and started pinning him down. After a while, they apparently began to mate. The lioness appears to have a very dispassionate look on her face. According to the photographer, "she’s not really interested in them. Every time either male approached her she would snarl at them and smack their faces with her paw.

“Usually they lay asleep doing nothing when I go to photograph them, but this time they were up and about. My favourite shot is the one where he appears to be sticking his tongue out,” Bridges told The Independent.

“I've never seen a shot of two males on top of one another with one sticking his tongue out before – it's like he's showing some pride in what he's doing.”

Obviously it’s not just about mating. Courtship rituals like affectionate nuzzling, caressing, and head rubs, as well as playful rolling around, have all been witnessed. Male pairs bond for several days before they actually mount each other. Experts estimate that 8 percent of all mounting occurs with other males.