Photo of the Day 472

Lion in Tree, Zambezi River, Zambia

Photograph by Chris Johns

A female lion claims her spot in a tree near the Zambezi River in Zambia. Female lions are the primary hunters in each family group, or pride. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeests, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Down the Zambezi,” October 1997, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 350

Hippo, Zambezi River, Africa, 1997

Photograph by Chris Johns

The gape-mouthed territorial display of a dominant male hippopotamus, such as this one on the Zambezi River, looks more like a colossal yawn. During mating season, males will claim a length of shoreline and fiercely defend it, occasionally even killing a bachelor rival.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Down the Zambezi," October 1997, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 163

Waterfowl, Zambezi River, 1997

Photograph by Chris Johns

Silhouetted by salmon skies at sunset, a pair of waterfowl alights on a tree limb near the Zambezi River. Often called the lifeline of southern Africa, the Zambezi cuts a 2,200-mile (3,540-kilometer) course east from Zambia to the Indian Ocean, sustaining elephants, hippos, crocodiles, hundreds of species of birds—and tens of millions of people—along the way.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Down the Zambezi," October 1997, National Geographic magazine)