Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Motherhood Strikes- This Lioness In Gir Forest Added A Leopard Cub To Her Family!


Priyanshi Mathur
Updated: Jan 04, 2019, 12:47 PM IST

Lions and leopards aren't exactly best of friends. They often fight over food and territory often killing or severely injuring each other.
So, it was quite shocking for the forest officials to know that a lioness, Raksha was nursing a 2-month-old leopard cub named as Mowgli, in Gir Forest. It is not clear how the lioness came across the cub or where the mother of the leopard baby is.


Usually, if a lion or a lioness finds a leopard or leopard cubs, they instantly kill them. But, for this lioness, motherly instinct seems to have overtaken the killer instinct because she adopted the baby into her clan.   
After observing the behaviour of the lioness, the foresters started sharing pictures and videos of the lioness feeding and nurturing the cub.
Interestingly, the lioness is extra protective about the cub, Deputy Conservator of Forests Dheeraj Mittal said.
"Since the leopard is smaller than her cubs, she ensures it walks ahead. She stops and waits for it to come closer to her when moving around or if they are near a water body," he added.


The lion family has also accepted the leopard baby, the lion cubs are quite fond of their younger brother. Foresters said, "This arrangement is extremely unusual. So, we have decided to observe the dynamics without intervening in any way."
https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/environment/motherly-instinct-trumps-killer-instinct-lioness-in-gir-forest-adopts-nurses-a-leopard-cub-359824.html

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