Exciting news from this part of the world: there are lions around here again! Like this King, photographed last night as the sun went down.

Maybe they won’t stay. Maybe they will. But this place has taught me not to take lions for granted. A lion’s life is tough. The cozy little prides we imagine they live in are often unstable, fragmented and downright violent. Lions are gangsters. All of them. Many don’t live in prides at all and have to get by on their own or with just one companion. They’re also outcompeted around here by our formidable hyenas, something that happens all over Africa where these ancient enemies collide.

But this boy has younger friend. And they’ve met up with two girls who’ve been alone for a while. And guess what? They’re making lion babies every time we see them. Is this the start of something incredible?