It was just another day for Safari guide Kurt Schultz. He was photographing lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park on Saturday and everything seemed pretty much normal. However, as he was snapping away, Schultz noticed something reminiscent of the legendary movie The Lion King. A baboon was carrying a small lion cub up a marula tree.
Sadly, Schultz couldn’t enjoy the re-enactment of the Disney classic. He feared the primate could drop the little critter. Or even worse, ‘viciously kill’ the poor animal. He has repeatedly witnessed cubs fall victim to groups of baboons.
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Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
“I first thought it was a female baboon but it was in actuality a young male baboon. The young baboon crossed the road and climbed up a marula tree. I waited for about 30 minutes before it came into view and was moving from tree to tree, the rest of the troop then moved away and the baboon was grooming and caring for the lion cub as if this was a young baboon,” he explained.
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
“The baboon was grooming the little lion cub as if it was a baby baboon… The males do a lot of grooming but the care given… was the same care given by a female to one of her own young.”
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
“In 20 years of guiding southern and east Africa, I have witnessed baboons viciously killing leopard cubs and have heard of baboons killing lion cubs. But I have never seen the care and attention given to a lion cub in this manner.”
“This will remain one of my most interesting sightings,” he added.
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Schultz was fast enough to catch the surprising moment on camera. And even though the photographs look like they’re portraying a cute bond between the two animals, Schultz believes the situation most likely didn’t end well for the cub.
The guide eventually moved on to allow tourists to get a look at the scene, and later the primates took the cub away with them.
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Image credits: www.latestsightings.com
Here’s what people said about the interesting situation
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