The animal kingdom is exceptionally beautiful. We see something new every day from unexpected friendships to adorable rescues and reunions. Animals, like humans, can perform incredible acts of kindness towards other species – not just their own. Our story takes place in Botswana, Africa where a lion pride attacked a group of baboons. The whole event was caught by wildlife photographers Evan Schiller and Lisa Holzwarth. The sight left them baffled and marveled all at once.
“30-40 baboons were heading in our general direction, making a lot of noise,” Lisa recalls.
The baboons had been frightened by something, scampering up trees. They shouted an alarm, making a big scene – it became clear when two lionesses came out of the tall grass. The females chased them up into the trees, joined by two more lionesses soon.
“Between the baboons shrieking and the lionesses communicating with deep guttural roars, it was a mad scene,” Lisa says.
Soon the chaos would really begin, as one lioness captured the female baboon trying to escape. Her life was over and yet something unexpected happens…
Image via screencapture from website Happiest.net
Baby baboon falls into lioness’s lap
Within seconds, the lioness realized there was a baby baboon nearby.
Image via screencapture from website Happiest.net
Instead of gobbling up the baby, the lioness started playing with the baby baboon. The baby tried to escape back up the tree, yet failed.
“The baby was showing signs of physical harm and fatigue from the whole ordeal. The lioness picked the baby up in her mouth – it was in agony watching the baby’s ordeal – and I kept on turning off the video option on my camera because it was hard to record.” Evan said of the event.
Image by Evan Schiller via screencapture from Happiest.net
Here’s where things got interesting…
Image via screencapture from website Happiest.net
Two lions distracted the lioness. She met their advances with aggression. Who is to say she was protecting the baby baboon or just fighting off their mating advances? However, things got interesting; waiting in a nearby tree was a male baboon. He was intent on saving the baby. The male lions causing a ruckus gave him a small window of opportunity. The baboon descended from the tree, grabbed his baby and made it safely back up to the top.
I was touched by how gently the father baboon held this little baby, who was in tough shape after its ordeal.”
Image by Evan Schiller via screencapture from website Happiest.net 
Image by Lisa Holzwarth
A remarkable action witnessed
Unfortunately, the baby also suffered from the heat. The father waited patiently before getting the baby into the shade of flowers and a neighboring tree. So, what happened to the baby? In the end, he survived with the help of his troop. Evan and Lisa could see he was obviously safe in the arms of his father.
“No matter what,” Lisa says. “The young baboon remains an inspiration to me—and a reminder, that life is fragile and no matter how much we fight to control its outcome, all we can do is live in the moment.”
Of course, Lisa and Evan were truly lucky to witness the remarkable events of the animal kingdom!
Featured Image via screencapture from website Happiest.net
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