Researchers documented a rare case of interspecies adoption as a lioness took in a sick baby leopard and cared for him as if he were her own.
The unusual bond formed between animals in Gir National Park in Gujarat, India, where the wild creatures crossed paths just over a year ago.
Lions and leopards at the Gir National Park don’t usually get on.
“They compete with each other” for space and food, said Stotra Chakrabarti, a researcher who studies animal behaviour. “They are at perpetual odds.”
This very rare case of interspecies adoption involves a sick baby leopard who was taken in by a lioness who looked after him as if he were her own.
