These lions are enjoying the absence of visitors in Kruger National Park

While the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down Kruger National Park to the public, its resident lions are taking advantage of the absence of visitors to check out places they usually don't frequent.

Kruger closed to visitors on 25 March as part of South Africa's efforts to curb the spread of the virus. With traffic gone from the area, section ranger Richard Sowry came across a pride of lions lying on the tar road just outside Orpen Rest Camp and captured some great images of the big cats snoozing in the sun. They usually reside on Kempiana Contractual Park, an area visitors to Kruger don't see.

"The use of barren places by animals such as lions is not unusual," park spokesman Isaac Phaahla tells Lonely Planet. "In this instance, the tarred road is being used because there has not been traffic passing through this particular stretch of road since the lockdown. It also means there is prey in the area because they are drawn to places where there is food and water nearby."

Kruger is one of Africa’s largest game reserves, and mountains, bush plains and tropical forests are all part of its landscape. All of the continent's iconic safari species – elephant, lion, leopard, cheetah, rhino, buffalo, giraffe, hippo and zebra – share the bushveld with a supporting cast of 137 other mammals and over 500 varieties of bird.

While Kruger is closed, those who are missing seeing wild animals can join a series of wildlife safari drives via live streaming. Lasting approximately three hours, the drives will be streamed in real-time from &Beyond Ngala Private Game Reserve and Djuma Private Game Reserve, both of which are are on the fringes of Kruger.

Keep up to date with Lonely Planet's latest travel-related COVID-19 news here.

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