Photos: Leopard cub nursed by lioness dies in Gujarat

RAJKOT: The leopard cub that was nurtured by a lioness along with its cubs in Gir forest area died after 45 days of association on Monday evening. The forest officials had spotted the leopard cub being nursed by the lioness in December last year.
Usually, lions kill cubs of the other wildcats to ward off future competition for prey. But this lioness had no such feelings. Instead, the leopard cub was seen living with the lioness who also used to feed it with her milk at regular intervals.She had ensured that the cub doesn't succumb to hunger in the harsh winter.

Dhiraj Mittal, deputy conservator of forest, Gir (west) who had documented this rare incident said, “The cub died due to congenital femoral hernia. It was suffering from the illness since birth, hence its death is natural.”

When the forest official sighted the rare phenomenon there was a view that leopard cub is required to separated from lioness to make sure that it survives. But there was ample chances that leopard cub would be killed by other lions.

However, the forest officials preferred not to separate the cub from the lioness. “It was a natural instinct of the lioness. Nobody had forced the lioness to adopt a leopard cub. That was the reason we had decided not to intervene,” Mittal said.

The forest officials did not find any change in the behaviour of lioness after the death of the leopard cub. The lioness has it’s own cubs and that’s why there was no change in emotion or behaviour of the lioness.