Take that! Loved-up lion gets a slap across the chops after female loses patience with his advances

He may be one of the world's most fearsome predators, but this lion clearly still has plenty of work to do when it comes to attracting the opposite sex.
The loved-up lion had taken a fancy to this lioness and spent an entire morning attempting to woo her.
But after making it perfectly clear on numerous occasions that she wasn't interested, she finally snapped.

Keen: When this loved-up lion spotted a female, he decided she was the woman for him

Old romantic: The lion spent an entire morning trying to woo the lioness, but his advances were constantly spurned

As these incredible pictures show, she lashed out with her paw and gave the hopeless romantic a fierce slap around his face.
The hilarious moment was captured by photographer Austin Thomas whilst he was on safari in Kenya's Masai Mara.

Mr Thomas, 45, from St Helens, Merseyside, said: 'The male was pestering her from the moment I arrived before sunrise until I left late morning.
'He was just impatient waiting and kept chancing his luck. Each time the female moved the male would take his chance and approach her.

Annoyed: Eventually, the female became fed up with the lions advances and began to moan and grumble

Spurned: The brave lion persisted but eventually the female's patience ran out and he was given a smack around the face

'Over time, she got pretty fed up with his advances. The moans became grumbles, the grumbles became growls and then she finally gave him what for with a left hook.
'But even after that he didn't give up. One picture taken later that morning shows he was still optimistic but she was still in no mood for his advances.'
However it seems that his persistence did eventually pay off.

Success: Despite getting a slap around the face, the lion's persistence paid off and he eventually got his woman

Mr Thomas added: 'He did finally get to mate with her, but on her terms and when she was ready. She was obviously in no mood to be hurried.
'This behaviour from a male lion is not unusual.
'I'm sure some would say human males adopt a similar technique but perhaps a more patient and subtle approach would have saved him a slap.'