Wounded but Victorious

[Shyamala Kumar]

This male has sustained a horrific injury to his eye but he seems to have won his lady.Another possibility is that the female could have inflicted it during the mating ritual.Nikon 750+70-200 1/60s ISO 500 F/6.3 early morning Jan 2018 in Gir.The light was extremely low and the sighting was brief.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Looks like the wound is inflicted from a claw. Good you captured the exact moment when it turned to look at you. The mane is short as is in the case of lions in Gir as compared to the lions in Africa. Liked the different colours of the leaves at the top, it gives a nice effect to the composition. Thanks for sharing.

[Sabyasachi Patra]

The pawing by the female is normally instinctive and the male takes evasive action. So I would believe this injury is because of a fight.