It *is* a very fast lens! It's a fixed 2.8 zoom. Those are always pricey. $1750. to be exact. The review is titled "World's Sharpest Midrange Zoom". That's exactly the sort of lens you'd expect a high end pro to carry and use for this shot.
Here is a picture of this lens. Note: a pro's constant appature 2.8 24-70 is a far different design then the slower, smaller, cheaper kit lenses that come with cameras like the Nikon D 40 that have similar zoom ranges.
Now, look at this picture of the photographer moving away from Tiger and the crowd after the shot.
I agree the lens on his camera looks a bit large to be the one in question, but look in his left hand! Ahhh, what is that beast? It's probably the lens he just took off. It sure looks like the lens pictured above, with a range-appropriate lens hood on it. The hood design itself gives away that it's a wide-angle capable lens, like the one in question.
Stone cold pro, I'd say!
Before doing anything else he's taken off the damaged lens and replaced it with one which can take more pictures. Then he moves.