Photos of leopard cub
being
raised by a lion
A lioness has been spotted suckling a leopard cub for the first time.
The unusual behaviour between two natural enemies was photographed
in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro conservation area on 12 July.
Estimated to be only three weeks old, the leopard cub was seen nursing
on a 5-year-old lioness that is collared and monitored by KopeLion,
a conservation NGO in Tanzania supported by Panthera, the global
wild cat conservation organisation.
Normally the two felines kill cubs of the other species to eliminate
future competition for food and raise the chances that their own
progeny will survive to adulthood.
Pumas have been found to adopt members of their own species,
but cross-species adoption among big cats remains rare. “This is a
truly unique case,” says Luke Hunter, Panthera’s president and chief
conservation officer. “I know of no other example of inter-species
adoption or nursing like this among big cats in the wild.”
JoopVanDerLinde/Panthera and KopeLion/Ndutu Lodge
The fact that this lioness recently gave birth is a critical factor,
Hunter says. “She is physiologically primed to take care of baby
cats and the little leopard fits the bill,” he says.
The mother lion, named Nosikitok by KopeLion’s Maasai lion scouts, is thought to have given birth to her second litter of cubs in mid to late June, although they are no longer with her. The leopard cub is almost exactly the age as her cubs and physically very similar. “She would not be nursing the cub if she wasn’t already awash with a ferocious maternal drive,” says Hunter.
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“Even so, there has never been another case like it, and why it has
occurred now is mystifying,” says Hunter. “It is quite possible she
lost her own cubs, and found the leopard cub in her bereaved state
when she would be particularly vulnerable.”
Hunter doesn’t think the odds are in the leopard cub’s favour, however.
“Even if she continues to foster the cub, the obstacles to its survival are,
sadly, formidable,” he says. “It is very unlikely that the lioness’ pride will accept it.”
JoopVanDerLinde/Panthera and KopeLion/Ndutu Lodge
“Lions have very rich, complicated social relationships in which they
recognise individuals by sight and by roars and so they are very well
equipped to distinguish their cubs from others,” says Hunter.
“If the rest of the pride finds the cub, it is likely it would be killed.”
Humans are unlikely to threaten the cub. The Maasai no longer hunt
lions to prove their manhood, but in retaliation and to prevent attacks
on livestock. Besides genetic isolation, this is the premier conflict
facing Ngorongoro’s lions.
KopeLion’s scouts find and retrieve lost livestock, reinforce corrals,
provide medical treatment for attacked livestock, and track lions, notifying
locals when prides are near, and discouraging hunts. They prevented 26
lion hunts last year, including those targeting the Masek pride
to which Nosikitok belongs.
Should the cub somehow survive to adulthood, would it behave
more like a lion or a leopard?
“I strongly suspect it would revert to behaving as a leopard,” says Hunter.
“Even its early exposure to lion society would not override the millions
of years of evolution that has equipped the leopard to be a supreme
solitary hunter. I am sure it would go its own way.”
(New Scientist)
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