A Lion Was About To Make A Meal Of An Injured Fox Until This Took Him By Surprise

by N/A, 10 years ago | 2 min read

Throughout the animal kingdom, there are a multitude of instincts hardwired into each creature - for survival, for their wellbeing. But perhaps one of the most fascinating instincts of all is a mother's instinct to protect her young.

When this lioness saw a young, defenseless cub in danger, her maternal instincts kicked in - only it wasn't her cub...even more, it wasn't even a lion.

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When this lion spotted an injured creature lying in the middle of the road, he knew he'd found a free meal...or so he thought.

After approaching the young, disabled bat-eared fox, the large male, and leader of his pride, prepared to make the easy kill.

He is leader of the Sunday Pan pride, residing with the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in Botswana, Africa.

But just as he was about to strike, the lioness he was joined by astonishingly got in front of the young fox and positioned herself to protect it.

The lion, obviously unhappy, made several angered attempts to intimidate the lioness, but she continued on protecting the defenseless fox, undaunted.

Such an effort of protection from any lioness is unsurprising when it comes to their own young - but a creature of an entirely different species, who normally serves as prey? Absolutely unheard of.

Embittered, the lion goes on snooping around the lioness' cubs in an attempt to draw her away from the fox.

But this only enraged her more. Immediately, she lashed out and attacked the pride leader, her motherly instincts clearly operating at their fullest.

Finally, the male lion decided the snack wasn't worth the fight, and gave up.

Moral of the story? Never underestimate the power of a mother's instinct to protect the defenseless.

Even if they're not her own.