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Program: Alex and the tree-climbing lions

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Alex Braczkowski fell in love with animals by accident - he'd just been expelled and while his parents were trying to find him a new school, they made him use his time wisely by volunteering at the Johannesburg Zoo.

From there he went to game ranger school, and onto university at a campus nestled in forests at the base of the Outeniqua Mountains, which he shared with dwarf leopards. It was at university that Alex really fell in love with big cats.

Eventually Alex became a National Geographic explorer, and for years now has been following a rare group of lions who spend almost all day up in trees, only coming down at night to hunt.

One of the lions that has a special place in Alex's heart is known as Jacob.

Jacob has already used up many of his nine lives. He has survived been poisoned, trapped, snared and gored by a buffalo, and now gets around on three legs, but is still able to climb trees.

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Alex Braczkowski has been following a unique population of tree-climbing lions through Uganda for years.

Zoology, Mammals, Conservation, Photography
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