Incredible Shot: Pakistani photographer gets too close to lion

A Pakistani photographer barely escaped with his life after capturing a stunning image of an attacking lion.

Atif Saeed, 38, captured the breathtaking image at a safari park just outside of Lahore in 2012 — but it has only recently gone viral.

As a freelance photographer Atif risked his life to capture an image of a hungry lion from just a few feet away.

Speaking with ABC News, Saeed said he was granted permission to go inside the lion's habitat to shoot a couple of images.

The photographer drove his vehicle into a clearing then sat on the ground to capture the lion with his camera.

Mr Saeed got out of his car and crept up towards the hunter armed only with a camera and fired off a few frames.

"The feel of the aggressive, approaching lion from the camera is something that can't be described," Saeed told ABC News. "I was witnessing every small detail of movement that no photograph or movie can show."

Unfortunately, the clicking sound of the camera's shutter alerted the lion to Mr Saeed's presence, who was forced to retreat quite rapidly from just 10 feet away from the lion.

The lion reportedly made an 'offensive move' in an attempt to attack the photographer but Saeed managed to jump back in his car and escape what could have been certain death.

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