22/10/2026
Imagine dropping your expensive telephoto lens in the Maasai Mara, and a lion picks it up and just walks off with it. 🦁📸 That's exactly what happened in June 2025. The lens slipped from a photographer's hands, and the lion spotted it, grabbed it in its mouth and strolled away like it owned the place. Wildlife photographer Dansen Raddy Raddy was nearby waiting for the lion to come closer. He didn't even realize what it was carrying until he looked, and then he quickly started filming.
The video went viral fast. Some people said it was staged, but Raddy says it wasn't. A second video from another angle shows the lion eventually dropping the lens near a vehicle after carrying it around for a while. The lens looked like a 400mm f/2.8 or a 600mm f/4, but the camouflage cover made it hard to tell.
The good news is the photographer got the lens back. The bad news is the lion's teeth left it damaged. Online, people joked that the king of the jungle had found itself an expensive toy. 😂 Photographers usually go to the Maasai Mara hoping to capture lions on camera. This time, one lion became the photographer and walked away with the gear.
📌 Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own this image. All credit goes to the original owner - Dansen Randy Randy . No copyright infringement intended. If you are the owner and want it removed, please contact me and I will take it down.
