An Elderly Lion in His Final Hours. Photograph by Larry Pannell.
So sad to see the king in his final days 
“I sat with him only feet away, locking eyes and starting at one another as I watched for an hour as the life leave his body. I wanted him to know he would not die alone.”
These tragic pictures document the last moments of a lion that previously ruled his territory.
He was formerly protected and fed by his family, but now that he’s been expelled, he’s become frail.
The lion, also known as Skybed Scar, is well-known in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, where he was photographed.
The 64-year-old photographer and acupuncturist Larry Anthony Pannell shot the heartbreaking photographs.
“I realized I was experiencing something really extraordinary… nature, the genuine nature of both life and death,” said Larry from California in the US.
In my professional life, I have witnessed individuals lose everything to landslides, earthquakes, and fires. Life can be really harsh. I’ve captured images of fatal car crashes with severe injuries.
“I don’t believe any image or series of images upset me as deeply as seeing the lion die.
“I watched for an hour as the life left his body while I sat with him barely a few feet away, locking eyes and staring at one another. I wanted him to know he wouldn’t pass away by himself.
“Without seeming obnoxious, I recall visiting my grandma for the final time the night before she died away when she was in the hospital.
We remained silent since we both knew this was the end, and instead we just locked eyes and looked at one another.
This is the first time since then that I have experienced the same sensation of spiritually connecting with another entity and simply knowing.
