Real-life Jungle Book meets sad end: Leopard cub Mowgli reared by lioness Raksha dies in Gir

Photo: Twitter/DGirwest

Photo: Twitter/DGirwest

Photo: Twitter/DGirwest

The leopard cub, named Mowgli, was under the care of a 7-year-old lioness, named Raksha, for the past 45 days in the Gir national forest.

India Today Web Desk

Ahmedabad

February 13, 2019

UPDATED: February 13, 2019 14:19 IST

Mowgli playing with Raksha. (Photo: Twitter/DGirwest)

 

In news that will make your midweek blues worse, a leopard cub who was being reared by a lioness in Gujarat's Gir forest area has died. The leopard cub, named Mowgli, was under the care of a 7-year-old lioness, named Raksha, for the past 45 days.
The cub died due to Congenital Femoral Hernia on Monday evening.
In what was an unusual sight, forest officials spotted the lioness nurturing the leopard cub along with her own cubs.
The sight was called a "miracle" by the forest department officials who were surprised that the cub lived for as long as it did. Usually, lionesses do not rear any other cubs besides their owns, as they pose a potential competition to their children.
However, Raksha's natural instincts made her take Mowgli into her pride. Tweeting about the "unprecedented" sight in January, the deputy conservator of forests for Gir West had said, "Surprising to see how a leopard cub understands the signs and sounds of the mother lioness! The lioness is taking extra care as she understands that the leopard cub is not able to match her pace and her cubs.
Gir is a treasure of natural wonder and perhaps this event is the Kohinoor of them all."
Speaking to local daily Ahmedabad Mirror, forest department official Dhiraj Mittal said, "Lionesses are known to be very generous mothers and large-hearted. This example just accentuates it. This kind of magnanimity for the offspring of a rival species is highly unusual but nature once in while throws such things at us and there is something humans can learn from this short-lived miracle."
According to forest department officials, the unique relationship between the leopard cub Mowgli and the lioness Raksha would have allowed them an insight into inter-species relationships, especially adoption. They say that this is a lost opportunity this was the first instance of inter-species adoption in the Gir national forest, ever since its inception in 1965.
The name Mowgli and Raksha come from Rudyard Kipling's book The Jungle Book. The story is based around a "man-cub" Mowgli who is raised by a pack of wolves. Raksha is the mother wolf who takes a baby Mowgli into her fold.
Watch the heartwarming scene from the 2016 Disney live-action recreation of The Jungle Book here:
(inputs from Gopi Maniar in Ahmedabad)
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/gir-lioness-leopard-cub-dies-mowgli-1454920-2019-02-13