Unbelievable Images of a Wild Mother Lion Nursing a Leopard Cub Will Leave You Speechless (VIDEO)

A few years ago, the organization Panthera, which is devoted to the Conservation of the world’s forty wild cat species and their habitats, received a set of incredible pictures from their partners at KopeLion – the first-ever evidence of a wild lioness nursing a leopard cub. The photos, taken in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Conservation Area, show a five-year-old lion female, locally known as Nosikitok, suckling a tiny leopard cub, estimated to be just three weeks old.

The photographs are huge news in the wild cat world. While suckling and even adoptions between members of the same species have been already documented among wild cats, the phenomenon that can be observed in the pictures is something different altogether, since cross-species nursing is “highly unusual” – for wild cats and, in fact, all wildlife.

“This is a truly unique case,” said Panthera President and Chief Conservation Officer Dr. Luke Hunter. “I know of no other example of inter-species adoption or nursing like this among big cats in the wild.”

The lioness recently gave birth to her own cubs, and the little leopard turns out to be almost exactly the age of her own young. Still, the case is unprecedented and its cause is a mystery – it is possible that the lioness has lost her own cubs and found the baby leopard in a vulnerable state of bereavement which made her take care of the cub. While the future for these two is yet unknown, it’s truly breathtaking to witness the emotional complexity of these beautiful animals.

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