A five-year-old lioness named "Nosikitok" suckling a leopard cub estimated to be only three weeks old.
Wild Lion Caught On Camera Nursing Leopard Cub in Tanzania
A lion at Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area has been photographed nursing a leopard cub in the first-ever known case of cross-species suckling among wild cats. The two species are normally mortal enemies.
The lioness is known to have given birth to her own cubs recently, making her "physiologically primed" to care for cubs, according to Panthera President and Chief Conservation Officer Luke Hunter.
"It is quite possible she has lost her own cubs, and found the leopard cub in her bereaved state when she would be particularly vulnerable," Hunter said.
