![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
![]() |
You are in: World: Africa | |||||
![]() |
![]() |
Monday, 7 January, 2002, 11:41 GMT
The lioness and the oryx
![]() Tourists flocked to watch the unlikely pair
A lioness in central Kenya has baffled wildlife experts by adopting a baby oryx, a kind of small antelope normally preyed upon by big cats.
Instead of then attacking the defenceless calf, the lioness adopted the baby, protecting it from other predators, including a leopard. Extraordinarily, the lioness still allowed the mother oryx occasionally to come and feed her calf before chasing her away. But the rule of the wild ultimately prevailed on Sunday when a male lion attacked and killed the baby oryx while the lioness was sleeping. 'Special instinct' "This is either an extraordinary case of maternal instinct or simply the eighth wonder of the world," local Herman Mwasaghu told The Nation newspaper.
The lioness would lie down to rest in the afternoon and its unlikely charge would curl up beside her. Wildlife expert Vincent Kapeen said he thought the lioness spared the oryx "because animals have a special instinct to care for the young". "What is baffling is why the relationship has lasted so long," he was quoted as saying. Sad ending According to the AFP news agency, the sad end to the story came on Sunday when the lioness led the oryx to the river to drink. Weakened by two weeks of looking after her adopted baby, she fell asleep, failing to notice a hungry male lion in the area. The oryx was no more. Patrick Muriungi, a receptionist at Samburu Lodge, told AFP the lioness was grief-stricken when she awoke to realise what had happened. "She was very angry. She went around the lion about 10 times roaring, and then the lioness disappeared," he was quoted as saying. She has not been seen since.
|
![]() |
See also:
![]() Internet links:
![]() The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Africa stories now:
![]() ![]() Links to more Africa stories are at the foot of the page.
![]() |
![]() |
Links to more Africa stories
|
![]() |
![]() |
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy |