In a national park in India, a lioness “adopted” a leopard cub and treated him as one of her own. Researchers studied the strange pairing between two naturally competitive species. Sadly, the cub died before the whole adorable and strange phenomenon could be investigated further.
The unlikely family was first spotted in late December 2018 by forest conservation workers in the Gir National Park in Gujarat. Dheeraj Mittal, the deputy chief of conservation, told the Hindustan Times that he was astonished to see the unusual pairing, especially since “lions tend to kill leopards.” While in this case, the lioness was actually paying special attention to the cub, even going as far as slowing down, because she “understands that the leopard cub is not able to match her pace or that of her cubs,” Mittal added.
