Lion
REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

A top official known in Kenya, known as the nation's "moral policeman", has blamed gay people in the country for two male lions that were photographed displaying "homosexual behaviour".

The felines were spotted in the Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve by London-based photographer Paul Goldstein. The animals were seen nuzzling and mounting each other, in what Goldstein described to The Daily Mail as "something astonishing" to witness.

"I normally loathe any sort of humanising with animals and our documentary channels are full of it, but this was not only surprising, it was impossible not to smile," he said.

"When lions mate it normally lasts a few seconds. These two were at it for over a minute and the obvious affection afterwards was very evident, as opposed to the violent withdrawal when male and female mate.

"Even as he dismounted he did not back off as is normal after mating, he crept round to the other male's muzzle, for a nuzzle and threw a conspiratorial wink his way."

Goldstein , a guide for Exodus Travels, added that he was aware of cases of homosexual lions in Botswana.

However, the discovery did not spark the same enthusiasm in Kenya, where same-sex relations are illegal and homosexuals face up to 14 years in prison.

"Moral policeman" Ezekial Mutua called for the two lions to be isolated and given treatment.

"These animals need counseling, because probably they have been influenced by gays who have gone to the national parks and behaved badly," Mutua,who is also the chief executive of the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB), told Nairobi News.

"Some research needs to be done. And also, I wish I could get the bio to confirm that the two lions were male, because it is not normal," he continued.

Mutua, known in the country for his anti-LGBT stances, also claimed the animals had been possessed by "demonic spirits".

His claims came just weeks after KFCB banned Disney TV show Andi Mack because it promoted gay content.

The board also banned the video for a remix of Macklemore's pro-LGBT track Same Love, with Mutua claiming the clip had not received the right licence to be broadcast in Kenya.