Lioness Momma Adopts Sick Baby Leopard And Raises As Her Own

The female had two cubs of her own, but she treated the leopard as if he were a member of the family. Examples of cross-species adoption in the wild are rare, and this particular case is the only documented example involving animals that are normally strong competitors. Other examples of interspecies adoption include a group of capuchin monkeys who took in an infant marmoset in 2004, and a family of bottlenose dolphins who fostered a baby melon-headed whale in 2014. The authors first spotted the unlikely pair in late December 2018, when they were seen hanging out near a freshly killed nilgai antelope. The team initially thought the relationship would be brief, and they were surprised when it continued.