1/14: Lion and Oryx

This mother lion, in the wild, briefly befriended the Oryx by her side, who would under most circumstances be immediate cat food. Who knows what instinct made her give the beast a pass. Probably not just a pang of mercy; probably a mis-wiring of motherhood, since she does look like she's a bit skinny and could use a good dinner. But the post-script: later a male wandered home to find that this prize meal was just hanging out, ripe to be et. And so this Oryx wound up fulfilling its role in nature as a source of high-quality protein for the big cats.

Maybe she wanted to be a stock farmer. Fatten him up a little...

Simple - She wanted to make her man jealous. He came home, got pissed and slaughtered it.

I heard about this...and it just made me sad for some reason.

More on this story, which is two and a half months old:

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NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan lioness who has already defied nature twice this year by adopting a baby oryx -- an antelope Africa's top predator usually likes to eat -- has done it again, adopting a third oryx.

Game wardens at Samburu National Park said on Monday they had found the lioness with a four or five-day-old oryx they called Easter on Saturday. She had previously adopted new born oryxes over New Year and on Valentine's Day.

On each occasion, she has given the calves affection, protection from other lions, and even allowed their natural mothers to come and feed them.

"Yesterday, two oryxes came (near the lion and calf), probably the mother and father," chief warden Simon Leirana told Reuters. "The lioness left the calf and went to sleep in the shade.

"The calf went to its mother and started suckling for about three minutes, then the lioness ran towards them and the mother oryx ran away."

Leirana said the calf tried to follow its mother, but was pursued by the lioness who eventually won "her" baby back.

Wardens said the latest adoptee looked well and strong. Oryx number two was taken away from the lioness after its condition deteriorated from lack of food.

Oryx number one was not so lucky. The lioness managed to protect it for two weeks before a hungry male lion with a traditional diet seized the baby while the lioness was napping.