| When something similar happens on an arid plain in | | | | off hyenas, jackals and other predators. She treated |
| Kenya, it grabs attention, too. Here, rather than | | | | the calf as she would a lion cub, lying in the grass |
| human and pig, the species involved are lion - just to | | | | with the young oryx at her side. |
| remind everyone, a lion is a large, predatory cat | | | | Incredibly, she allowed the calf to return to its |
| which stalks, attacks, slays and feasts on the | | | | mother to take milk, before again taking the infant |
| still-warm body of its prey - and oryx, a kind of | | | | into her care. |
| antelope, which normally ends up the victim in the | | | | Guests at nearby Safari Lodges and Camps returned |
| predator-prey relationship. The question is this: how | | | | with unbelievable photos and video of this miraculous |
| many people think that the lion is suffering from | | | | relationship, as their guides struggled to explain what |
| serious mental illness, and how many, soaked from | | | | they had seen. |
| the cradle in a Disneyfied miasma of stories of | | | | The most common explanation was that the lion had |
| animals loving and helping each other across species | | | | mistaken the tawny coloured calf for a juvenile lion |
| boundaries, drunk on cartoon fantasies of Bambi and | | | | during a hunt, and was acting through misguided |
| the Lion King and Mowgli dancing with that loveable | | | | maternal instincts. |
| lunk Balou the bear, how many think: hey, | | | | "The park's game viewing activities have become |
| predator-prey love - that's the way to go? | | | | more garnished by this," says Herman Mwasagua, |
| The story of Larsens the lioness and her strung-out | | | | manager of the $250-a-night Serena Lodge in |
| litter of baby oryxes began last Christmas in Kenya's | | | | Samburu. "When anybody comes here, they say: 'We |
| Samburu national park when wardens saw that the | | | | hear there's this lioness with an oryx...'" |
| big cat had picked up a small, hoofed, herbivorous | | | | Most of the park's regular clientele, he says, are |
| companion, and was mothering it. The relationship | | | | realists when it comes to nature. They expect to |
| lasted just long enough for the story to blaze | | | | see animals tearing each other pieces. In fact, they |
| through the newsrooms of the world before a male | | | | want to put it on DVD. But there is a strange, |
| lion came along and ate oryx number one. The male | | | | significant minority who are troubled by |
| was described in the western media as having a | | | | carnivorousness in the flesh. "The majority like to see |
| more "traditional" diet than Larsens, as if the lioness | | | | a kill. They appreciate it. But there's a percentage |
| was blazing a trail towards some kind of liberated, | | | | who close their eyes and say: 'It's cruel.' But it's the |
| vegetarian modernity among lions. | | | | rule of the jungle. It's a prey and predator |
| Oryx number two was adopted on St Valentine's | | | | relationship. It's natural." |
| day. The calf failed to thrive on lion's milk and was | | | | The story took a new twist as a male lion began |
| removed to a place of safety by wardens for fear it | | | | following the pair, tracking the calf. Experts were |
| would die of hunger. | | | | unsure whether the lion regarded the oryx as prey |
| On the eve of Good Friday, Larsens confirmed her | | | | or as the lioness' cub. Either way, the calf was in |
| status as a serial adopter by picking up baby oryx | | | | great danger, as a male lion will always kill the cubs of |
| number three. The animal is still with her, although | | | | a lone lioness straying into his territory. The lion was |
| judging by its experiences over the past few days, it | | | | larger and more powerful than the lioness, and she |
| must be traumatised. After dark on Easter Monday, | | | | was unable to protect the calf. Inevitably nature took |
| Larsens showed that she had a traditional diet after | | | | its course, bringing the unique relationship to an end. |
| all by jumping on and tearing to pieces an eranuk, a | | | | The story was dismissed as a freak occurrence, |
| kind of gazelle, which had been unwise enough to | | | | albeit an unusual and touching story that would |
| graze nearby. After stuffing herself with bloody | | | | become a source of local legend. |
| hunks of meat, Larsens snuggled back up to her | | | | Then, just two weeks later on Valentine's Day, the |
| adoptee as if nothing had happened. Yesterday, the | | | | story took a new incredible turn. After the death of |
| oryx's real mother dared to come close enough to | | | | the calf, Kamuniak began tracking and following herds |
| Larsens for her baby to join her and suckle. Larsens | | | | of oryx. She finally managed to ambush an oryx cow |
| gave chase: as Simon Leirana, the chief warden at | | | | and separate her from her calf. |
| Samburu described it, mother oryx and child ran for | | | | As witnesses watched in disbelief, the miraculous |
| three kilometres, with the lioness in pursuit, before | | | | "once in a lifetime" events began to repeat |
| Larsens was able to separate them and regain | | | | themselves, as the lioness protectively led the calf |
| custody of the little antelope. Oprah, eat your heart | | | | into the bush. |
| out. | | | | She continued to care for and protect the calf for |
| The oryx is common throughout Northern Kenya, a | | | | several days. Perhaps having learnt from her previous |
| large browsing antelope with distinctive long pointed | | | | experience, she appeared to be avoiding contact with |
| horns. Lions in Samburu prey on Oryx, often | | | | other lions. Unlike the other calf, this young oryx was |
| ambushing them in the thick riverine bush around the | | | | completely separated from its mother, and began |
| banks of the Ewaso Nyiro. Newborn calves are | | | | starving. Even Kamuniak herself was unable to hunt |
| particular vulnerable, as they are easily separated | | | | as she remained standing watch over her adopted |
| form the herd and killed. | | | | "cub". |
| As pictures began to appear, the Reserve Warden, | | | | For visitors to Samburu, this has been a unique |
| Rangers and naturalists were baffled. The lioness had | | | | opportunity to witness one of nature's miracles first |
| separated the calf from the herd, and seemingly | | | | hand. The Samburu Game Reserve is a beautiful tract |
| adopted the young animal as her own cub. For the | | | | of pure wilderness in Northern Kenya. Homeland of |
| next 15 days, visitors to the reserve watched in | | | | the Samburu people, this is an area of stunning |
| disbelief as the unlikely pair roamed through the bush | | | | beauty, where the waters of Ewaso Nyiro River |
| at the foot of the beautiful Koitogor Hills. | | | | bring life to an arid landscape populated to large herds |
| The lioness, later named Kamuniak (Blessed One) by | | | | of big game. |
| Rangers, spent her days protecting the calf, chasing | | | | |