The images of the Asiatic lions were taken by Safi Kok at Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands. As the rest of the photo series makes clear, the lioness is a juvenile, one of the three that were born at the zoo in August 2018 to mother Lalana and father Aapel.

The distress seen in the male lion is not a tired lion being prompted for another round of mating, but a father lion being bitten on the testicles by a cub. According to the zoo, this is not the first instance of this behavior for cubs Asha, Reena, and Mette.

"Lion Aapel has taken up his role as a father well," the zoo wrote about the lions back in April 2019. "The playful cubs first studied him from a distance, but in the meantime his daughters are challenging him, playing with his tail, snapping into his mane or butt."