Imagine getting a lion’s eye view of a hunt, and seeing every shrub, tree or rock that it sees. You can practically feel the creature’s see-sawing shoulder-blades and stealthy footfalls as it stalks through the undergrowth towards an unwary impala.

How would you do this? The obvious way would be to traipse about the savannah after a lion, but bear in mind that these predators typically hunt at night, and often among thick vegetation.  “That’s a place most ecologists won’t go, at least not anyone in their right mind,” says Greg Asner from the Carnegie Institution for Science. “It is very spooky.”

Asner had a different approach. To see what the lions see from the ground, he took to the skies.

While most