Cliffhanger!
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Four lionesses look over the edge before aborting their rescue
mission because of the sheer drop. |
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Motherly love: The mother gives her son a lick to say that all
is well in the pride following the drama |
Clinging on for dear life to the side of a vertical cliff, the tiny
lion cub cries out pitifully for help.His mother arrives at the edge of
the precipice with three other lionesses and a male. The females start
to clamber down together but turn back daunted by the sheer
drop.Eventually one single factor determines which of them will risk her
life to save the youngster " motherly love.''
The drama begins: The mother arrives at the edge of the cliff as her
son cries out for rescue after being trapped when he slipped
On the brink: Slowly, agonisingly, the big cat edges her way down
towards her terrified son, using her powerful claws to grip the
crumbling cliff side.One slip from her and both animals could end up
dead at the bottom of the ravine. Just as the exhausted cub seems about
to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her
jaws. She then begins the equally perilous journey back to the top.
Minutes later, they arrive and she gives the frightened creature a
consoling lick on the head.
The dramatic rescue, captured by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois
Largot, was played out in Kenya's Masai Mara game reserve.
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Rescue mission The mother inches her way down the cliff face to
rescue the
terrified cub before locking him in her jaws and making her way
back up the
cliff face |
Despite the presence of wardens to deter poachers, day-to-day life
for the lions is not without its dangers as the cub learned the hard
way. |
