Lioness Momma Adopts Sick Baby Leopard And Raises As Her Own

Lions and leopards at the Gir National Park don’t usually get on. “They compete with each other” for space and food, said Stotra Chakrabarti, a researcher who studies animal behaviour. “They are at perpetual odds.” And until recently, this statement wouldn’t have been questioned. But one particular lion, against all odds, broke the barrier when she adopted a baby leopard.

Speaking to The New York Times, Chakrabarti explained the animals 'compete' for space and food. However, the young lioness decided to put the differences aside and take pity on the two-month-old leopard cub. To be fair, I think it would have been difficult to resist the baby's big blue eyes and fluffy coat. Details of the interesting case were shared last week in the ecology journal Ecosphere, where authors Dheeraj Mittal, Stotra Chakrabarti, Shailesh B. Khambda and Joseph K. Bump described how the lioness spent weeks nursing, feeding and caring for her adoptive son.