Mohawk the lion is pictured at night by Hennie van Heerden in the Mala Mala Game Reserve in Northlands, South Africa. Mohawk is the leader of a five-strong gang of male lions called the Mapochos, which means 'the devils' in the local dialect where the lions roam. They are a group of males who have no pride of females to call their own. Hennie was travelling back to camp by jeep after the end of a long day with a group on safari when as darkness descended they heard a lion's roar. "The encounter with Mohawk still makes the hairs on the back of my neck rise when I think of it," said 47-year-old Hennie, from Holland. "He was simply too close - just inches away. I could smell his breath and hear his heavy breathing. The only thing that was on my mind at that moment were those huge squinted yellow eyes - staring me down. It was totally up to him what happened - if he attacked there was nothing I could have done."

Credit : HENNIE VAN HEERDEN / BARCROFT MEDIA