South Africa's Kruger National Park lions have been taking advantage of the quiet roads during the coronavirus lockdown to sleep in areas that would normally be busy with tourists.
The wildlife park in the north-east of the country has been closed since March 25 in compliance with the Government's lockdown measures.
Park ranger Richard Sowry was out on patrol on Wednesday when he spotted a sleeping pride in the road.
He told the BBC: "Lions are used to people in vehicles.
"All animals have much more of an instinctive fear of people on foot, so if I had walked up they would never have allowed me to get so close.
"These are difficult times for everyone and the intention was to bring people joy."
The oldest lioness in the pride is about 14, which according to Mr Sowry, is "very old for a lioness".
The lions often sleep on the park's roads during the winter when the tar still retains some heat to warm the animals.
"Everybody realises the importance of lockdown and the rangers are there to do their normal duties," media officer Isaac Phaala told the BBC.
"To maintain the infrastructure takes quite a bit of work so that when the park opens, you don't start from scratch."
He added that the lions are intelligent creatures and they are now "enjoying the freedom of the park without us".
South Africa is one of the worst-hit countries in Africa with 2,605 Covid-19 cases and 48 deaths, according to John Hopkins data.
The continent has had more than 18,000 confirmed cases, but experts say it is weeks behind Europe in the pandemic and the rate of increase has looked alarmingly similar.
