The caring lioness and the oryx

In 2002, A lioness in the Samburu Game Reserve, central Kenya spotted an baby Oryx, a type of antelope, together with it's mother. The lioness scared off the mother, but instead of devouring the defenceless baby Oryx just like any lions will do, she has baffled wildlife experts by adopting it! Since then, she has been 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.

The lioness would lie down to rest in the afternoon and the baby Oryx would curl up beside her. Experts followed them closely expecting that one day the lioness will come to her senses and starts to prey on the calf. But day by day passed, she was constantly guarding the calf and even though she grew increasingly thin, she didn't attack the calf nor leave the calf to hunt for food. But the rule of the wild ultimately prevailed when she was caught off guard and a male lion attacked and killed the baby oryx while the lioness was sleeping. By now, she has already taken care of the calf for 16 days.

Local people in Kenya named the lioness Kamunyak, which means “the blessed one” in the local Samburu language. Since then she has cared for five more young Oryxes, but none lives longer than a week and the last escaped back to it's mother. Kamunyak was last sighted in February 2003, and despite a number of searches, she has not been spotted again. Her story was recorded by Saba Douglas-Hamilton and her sister, Dudu, between January 2002 - August 2003. Their film, Heart of a Lioness, was shown on the BBC and Animal Planet. This a powerful message for us all to fight racism. If an animal can overcome her hunger and instinct to protect, imagine what we humans can do, if we really wants to.

Source : www.magicalkenya.com

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