A feature of coronavirus coverage around the world has been the reports of nature flourishing in the absence of typical pollution levels.

Indeed, just yesterday reports emerged from San Francisco that coyote's could be heard howling in the streets at night as people remain indoors.

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And the BBC, among others, has now reported that lions in South Africa's Kruger National Park have been taking advantage of the lack of humans to take a well earned kip on a road that would usually be busy with tourists.

Per the BBC, big cats would typically only be seen by rangers on the roads at night, but park ranger Richard Sowry snapped the pictures of the sleeping pride on Wednesday.

Take a look at his stunning snaps:

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As a ranger at the park, Sowry performs an essential service and thus is continuing to to work during South Africa's lockdown. He checks on the wildlife and guards against poachers.

"Lions are used to people in vehicles." Sowry said, per the BBC, "All animals have much more of an instinctive fear of people on foot, so if I had walked up they would never have allowed me to get so close."

Mr Sowry said he is delighted to be able to share his photographs with people who are unable to visit the park due to the coronavirus pandemic, "These are difficult times for everyone and the intention was to bring people joy," he added.

Media officer Isaac Phaala said, per the BBC;

"Everybody realises the importance of the lockdown and the rangers are there to do their normal duties.

"To maintain the infrastructure takes quite a bit of work so that when the park opens, you don't start from scratch."

According to statistics from the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, South Africa has 2,605 confirmed cases of coronavirus at the time of writing.

Lions nap in the middle of the road during lockdown in South Africa