Talk about a photo shoot of a life time. Recently in Kenya's Masai Mara game preserve in Africa, wild-life photographer, Jean-Francois Largot happened to be at the right place at the right time when he witnessed the dramatic rescue of a lion cub by his mother. Sadly a baby lion cub had fallen over the edge of a very sheer cliff. Luckily the cub became caught so that he didn't fall straight to the bottom of the cliff.
As he cried out in fear and panic, his mother and 3 other female lions plus one male lion rushed to look over the edge to determine what had happened. At first the lions tried to climb down the cliff but soon realized that it was too steep and dangerous to climb down to the cub.
But as her baby continued to cry out in terror for her it was the mother lion who began once again to try to reach her cub. Slowly and very agonizingly she used her powerful claws to grip the crumbling side of the cliff as she inched her way down. One slip on her part and both she and her baby could end up at the bottom of the cliff. Right as her exhausted baby seems to be about to fall, the female reaches him and grabs him up in her powerful jaws.
Then she begins the perilous climb back to the top. During what seemed like hours but was only minutes, the mother lion reaches the top with her baby safely in her grip. She then gently puts him down and gives him a big motherly lick across the top of his head.
All ends well due to the power of motherly love that drove the female lion to risk her life to save her baby. As any mother will tell you it is the most powerful force in the world.
As he cried out in fear and panic, his mother and 3 other female lions plus one male lion rushed to look over the edge to determine what had happened. At first the lions tried to climb down the cliff but soon realized that it was too steep and dangerous to climb down to the cub.
But as her baby continued to cry out in terror for her it was the mother lion who began once again to try to reach her cub. Slowly and very agonizingly she used her powerful claws to grip the crumbling side of the cliff as she inched her way down. One slip on her part and both she and her baby could end up at the bottom of the cliff. Right as her exhausted baby seems to be about to fall, the female reaches him and grabs him up in her powerful jaws.
Then she begins the perilous climb back to the top. During what seemed like hours but was only minutes, the mother lion reaches the top with her baby safely in her grip. She then gently puts him down and gives him a big motherly lick across the top of his head.
All ends well due to the power of motherly love that drove the female lion to risk her life to save her baby. As any mother will tell you it is the most powerful force in the world.
Photos: Jean François Largot
Amazing shots - thank you for sharing - she used every muscle in her body to get down to the cub and to get back up with it. Even the other lions showed concern. There is so much more to our fellow creatures of the earth than many give them credit for.
Once again we see the love and caring that animals have. If only more people would watch and learn from animals, this would be a so much better world.
Amazing story,s and photo,s! , my compliments
Unconditional love from a Mother can move mountains. Amazing photos of this lioness rescuing her cub. Thank you for sharing it.
Motherly love. If anything can overcome all the hate and random violence in our world, it will be this.
This is one of the most amazing and beautiful things I have ever seen. So many animals are feared by so many humans because they don't understand them or greed gets in the way. This shows another side to these beautiful animals -- a caring, loving side. People should understand and not be so quick to get rid of them. These truly are awesome pic's. The photographer must be so proud to have caught this one!!
Wonderful photos! So glad all ended well for Mom and baby.
Stunning!! These are some of the best action wildlife photos I have seen. Like most animals, a lioness will do anything to save her cubs. My hat goes off to Jean-Francios Largot for capturing such a beautiful and heroic scene.
AMAZING..!
Tremendous! Amazing photos!!!
Truly amazing!!! :D
Did you know that male lions kill the cubs so that they can mate with the females sooner? Nature is full of wonders.
Mother is Mother .....Doesn't matter Human,Animal or bird....
Amazing photos! Thankyou for sharing!
Read like a story. Really it is amazing event when it is captured in camera at the right place and time by the photographer.
jean-francois must have the steadiest hand in the west! he has to be a great photographer to get those photos! i'd get so caught up in the drama, i'd forget about getting the pics! the lion's reaction to the crying pcub, reminds me of wolves, they went as a group to see what was the matter with the cub. the poor little one was just lucky to have fallen where he did and having a mom who would do anything she could to save her baby. i think that is the way of all moms, no matter who, or what we are! thanks, jean-francois for taking these photos, and thanks white wolf for bringing photos and videos of wonderful animals!
Amazing, thank you sharing these awesome photos.
and Jean-Francois ( with a camera )JUST stood by and took photos? WELL at least SHE( Momma ) made it, and baby is safe!
OMG, the actions of the mamma Is priceless and beautiful. Thank you for the wonderful pictures! Also thank you for posting, we all can learn from the Lion!
To those who kill them, can YOU find eny difference between a mother lioness and human one? If your answer is yes, then you dont have any hope to be a better person, but if you say No, you are allready a kind and affectionate person.
GREAT JOB MOM!
So beautiful I used to work at howlets zoo as a tiger keeper these girls r just amazing how they love their babies, great pics x
never under estimate a mothers love , such a beautiful story and the pictures were amazing , what a awesome thing to witness.
I really love this story
Increíble ellos son inmensos.
what a wonderful story,mums the world over,no matter what would risk anything ,for their children.thank you for sharing.
,What a beautiful story & pictures. Thank you for showing us that a Mother's Love, no mater who or what you are is nothing but endless.
What an incredible story and capture by Mr. Largot...I will second what all the other commenters have said - that a mother's love knows no bounds, and that this story absolutely reaffirms that the instinct to protect the young, is not just a human instinct,but a universal one, and this, if nothing else, should prove that animals have the kind of feelings demonstrated by more advanced sentient beings (humans) that should earn them the right to live and be protected....
This should become story of the year,.
Most beautiful pictures and story of a magnificent lioness and her love of her cub. It is an unconditional love that most mother animals and some humans have. As to one of the comments, male lions protect their pride which sometimes leads to their death. When a new male lion takes over, they will kill the cubs if they are young or drive them off. On some occasions, the female will leave the pride with her cubs before the male can kill them.
My heart was in my mouth.
Amazing photos. Where was the photographer standing to be able to get these shots? I am always impressed by the love animal mothers have for their children. This is an exceptional example of that.
This will warm your heart.Thanks so much for posting this.
The photographer was on the back of a safari vehicle. They are on a daily live streaming safari 2x each day on WildEarth, on youtube. The cub did slide down when his mom accidently pushed him. She then went down after him and brought it back up. I was lucky enough to see it happening. (It wasn't a cliff but a very steep sided gully.)
amazing an powerful u never truly know how power a mother is until one of her babies an in danger