Funny Pictures and Weird News - Lonely lioness adopts baby antelope
The case of Owen the hippo and Mzee the giant tortoise is not the only example of unusual of animal friendship occurring recently in Kenya's national parks.
In 2002, a lioness, called Larsens, baffled wildlife experts in Kenya, by adopting a series of baby oryx, a kind of small antelope normally preyed upon by the big cats. Game wardens patrolling the Samburu National Park reported seeing the full-grown lioness picking up a baby oryx, on Christmas Day, after scaring off its mother. They expected her to settle down to enjoy a tasty meal, but were amazed to see her begin nuzzling and fondling the defenseless little creature instead.
Photos: Larsens the lonely lioness goes for a stroll with her newly adopted baby
For two weeks, tourists and wardens at the game reserve, were treated to the rare spectacle of seeing the frail brown antelope, still unsteady on its feet, walking side by side with its unusual "mom". Also in the evenings, the little oryx could be seen curled up under the belly of it's newly acquired mother.
Extraordinarily, the lioness still allowed the mother oryx to come and feed her calf for several minutes a day before chasing her away. The lioness was also said to be "fiercely protective" of her new baby - becoming very aggressive when any humans tried to approach. She even warned off a leopard that had been stalking the young prey.
Rangers noted that this was not the first time Larsen had placed a calf under her protection. One was seen in her company in December 2001, but it was eaten by other lions shortly afterwards. Another calf was taken away from her in February 2002 and placed in a zoo because it showed signs of malnourishment.
But sadly, this new friendship was also destined to fail, as the rule of the wild ultimately prevailed.
Tragedy finally struck when the lioness, weakened by a lack of food after a fortnight protecting the baby, led the oryx to the river to drink. "When the lioness went to take a nap, the baby oryx was playing around and it was caught by another lion and killed”, said Patrick Muriungi, a receptionist at Samburu Lodge.
The lioness was grief-stricken when she awoke to realize what had happened he told reporters. “The lioness was very angry. She went around the lion about ten times roaring and then disappeared”, he was quoted as saying.
"As sad as this ending may be, to such a beautiful story, things could have turned out much worse", a warden recently told the Gag Report.
"Just imagine how bad it would have been if Larsens had been licking the little oryx clean one day and suddenly thought, 'Hey! That tastes great!' " he added.
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