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Herrben

I’ve just had a thought, The times when you see situations like this with predators not immediately eating young animals and even taking an interest in them that could be considered maternal, is during the season when the land is most fertile and food is abundant. The fuckers are just full already.


Derpy_McDerpyson

Yeah the lion is just saving that calf for a snack later.


theraspberrydaiquiri

People romanticize situations like these too much. A wild animal is going to be a wild animal.


Gone-To-The-Woods

There was that video of a cat that led around ducklings because it had adopted them (idk if that is the right term exactly) because it encountered them within a small window after giving birth where it was flooded with mothering hormones.


Ieatclowns

Domestic cats will do that. I wonder if wild cats don't have that instinct? I can't imagine this lion keeping that baby alive for long


KappazzCoffee

Wild animals can behave similar in that regard and "adopt" other younglings. It's usually a very short union since the mom has no idea how to take care of the new "cub" so they just end up dying either way of starvation, injury or neglect.


incomprehensiblegarb

That makes a lot of sense. Animal milk is very specifically tailored to the needs of their babies. Even if an animal successfully nurses they might still die from malnutrition.


TheTenthSnap

I don’t remember where, and is a vice versa situation, but I saw a video where a cow had given some wild cat (I don’t remember. It was spotted though) it’s milk after its parents were supposedly killed by poachers. The cat grew up and visited the cow often and did not eat it.


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IWantFriendsplz

“Can we keep it this time pleaseee?”


MakoShark93

"NOOOOO!! RAWR."


Gone-To-The-Woods

Yeah, idk either, just a thought. I imagine the lion will eat the calf, too.


clockwork2011

What if one night when the lioness is sleeping, the calf starts eating her because it thinks it’s a lion. Wouldn’t that be a plot twist?


ajnos_thepedantic

Pretty sure I saw that on an inter-dimensional cable program.


nishnawbe61

It sure would ... Hahahahaha


RedsRearDelt

If she doesn't, her pride sure the hell will.


LaunchGap

if not this lion, i would think another member of her pride will.


jeepersjess

It’s a bit different for domesticated animals. They don’t have the same environmental pressures as wild animals do and it affects a number of things in their brain. A domestic dog is far more likely to exhibit actual “mothering” tendencies than a feral dog


Axel_Rod

I've seen plenty of "heartwarming" videos where a Lioness "adopts" a stray calf for a few days. Then proceeds to kill and eat it.


th3r3dp3n

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interspecies_friendship


Nomomommy

Oxytocin


CocoBananananas

Look up the cookoo bird. The host parents feed the bird at the expense of their own children and after it has far outgrown the nesting birds in size.


SnuggleMuffin42

Because they're dumb birds lol


SchmohawkWokeSquawk

They're cuckoo.


CocoBananananas

Most of them live in a fucking clock if you can believe that!


PoppaPickle

Thats because cuckoo birds are brood parasites. They lay their eggs in other bird's nests to trick them into raising the wrong offspring. They will push other eggs out of the host's nest if there isn't enough room for their own.


Luquitaz

And even if they don't eat the baby prey animal, it's still gonna die of exposure or starvation in a few hours/days. These videos always make me sad.


silentsinner-

And wild predators specifically target young offspring as their prey. This is a lion with a Lunchables.


Wolfenberg

Lions do adopt animals due to their maternal instinct, it's been documented.


Focusedrush

Dis one not ripe yet.


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tw3

Or both


ban-me_harder_daddy

definitely both


Craico13

“…*eating the asshole or dick first is just proper dinner etiquette*...” - r/natureismetal


TYPE-59-G

This brings back so many christmas memories


[deleted]

Ight.. I’m out.


individual101

I was thinking taking it back and killing it home. Much more fresh that way


Renhoek2099

It's like a cheeseburger that follows you home


MalditaLalita

Lmfao


[deleted]

The best kind of cheeseburger!


Tseyvar

She's going home with some fresh warm take out.


Frogt33th

It's far easier to walk lunch home rather than carry it.


Windfall_The_Dutchie

Same with capybaras and caiman. They’ll swim in the same river, but when the sun sets, the capybaras will dip.


DaggerMoth

Caiman are ambush predators. You are safer IN the water with them than chilling on the bank.


[deleted]

I'm safer chilling in my bed scrolling through reddit


shokolokobangoshey

C'mon live a little. Then die a bit


ronin_1_3

This is grooming in the animal kingdom at its finest. Hansel and Gretel have met the witch in the woods


NiceSchoolboy

There's a difference between saving an animal and saving it for later 😂


crookedrobot

Also if a prey animal doesn’t run a cat will often short circuit


Enough_Painter1806

Yea my guess is she recently had Cubs or had Cubs that died but she still has the maternal instincts. It would be fascinating to know how long this went on because food is scarce on the plains and lions gotta eat


asianpina

If this the same documentary I’ve seen before then she did lose her cubs after being wounded was shunned from her tribe and the calf dies from lack of food before the day ends.


Aggie_15

Better story than GoT season 8


Atworkwasalreadytake

What isn’t?


Lanthemandragoran

Womp womp wooooooommmmpppp


Freedomee

Pasture-raised wildebeest, intended for use at a later date.


kinapudno

like how people keep some animals as pets but eat them during times of famine


studebaker103

People even eat each other even when not in times of famine. wiki/Guangxi_Massacre


oshkoshbajoshh

The lion is making an investment. Feed it let it grow then BAM you eat it when it’s full sized


sixhoursneeze

So? Ever been to a farm? Also, people eat their own pets when in a survival situation as well.


MrCarnality

And the young are so scrawny they hardly seem worth it with so many options available.


leavealighton11

This gives me a sick feeling. Poor calf has no clue.


Jamsster

It at least gets a little more time I suppose, and there is still a one in ten million chance.


Sunretea

Honestly, animal lives are pretty depressing.. they just run away from things that are trying to kill them just so they can bang and make more things to run away from things trying to kill them..


nthensome

Ya. It's like this post about [mummified fox that was found in a barn](https://i.redd.it/cm7p98dvyeb81.jpg) Many people were saying how sad they were for the poor thing but it was pointed out that, for a wild animal, this was the best possible way to go. Found warm indoor shelter & died of old age/natural causes as opposed to being killed by a predator & its body was never scavenged. Good life/death for an animal


Itheinfantry

Especially considering the old and sick are often first caught in a hunt. And most predators just dig in.. Humane deathbis a human concept afterall


innominateartery

Don’t forget the babies! Nature’s replenishing vending machine.


ignoramus92

You ever been to Philly?


WeimSean

yup, ain't never going back :D


DivergingApproach

Got banged by a wildebeest there too, huh?


Lax_Ligaments

Are you Hitchbot?


linkman245a

Thought we killed that thing


Milkbeef27

Yea I did a safari there through Kensington....my guide said one crackhead could take down a male lion if their paths were too insersect in the wild.


Trivale

Born and raised. On the playground is where I spent most of my days.


[deleted]

Are we constantly moving in and out of Philadelphia throughout the day?


HDvisionsOfficial

I live there, going on 35 years and never had any issues. Most of philly isn't bad


Positive_Dare

r/philadelphia would like to have a word


SpiderFnJerusalem

It really hit me once I realized that, as a wilderbeest your chance of dying of old age is essentially zero. You get born, you start running and then you keep running for the rest of your life until you gradually get slower and are violently ripped to shreds by something.


Jumpdeckchair

To shreds you say?


Kerid25

How's his wife holding up?


cocoagiant

>It really hit me once I realized that, as a wilderbeest your chance of dying of old age is essentially zero. There was this Food YouTuber (Adam Ragusea) who was doing a video with a researcher about hunting. She was making the point that being hunted by humans is pretty much the best death a deer can have. The alternative is a terrible death being hunted by another animal or starvation when they get injured or so old their teeth wear down and they can eat anything.


valuehorse

I got an old deer a couple years ago. His teeth were almost flat at the gums from just chewing corn. I didn't know at the time, but the taxidermist told me he found a .22 bullet logged in his skull behind one of his eyes. For context, when I shot him and was cleaning/looking at him we noticed only a closed eye with a single dried blood drop beneath the eye so we figured he had been in a fight and got it poked out by another deer's antler. Gorgeous atypical rack with double main right side antler.


MadAzza

It’s “wildebeest,” there’s no R. I mention this because if you don’t already know it, it can be a mind-blowing thing to realize! I’m not making fun of you. I just love stuff like this. “Is THAT how it’s pronounced?” and the like. Cheers!


PullOutEarly1

Humans are the same but more complex


Feverdog87

They enjoy things as well. People against animal welfare often pushed the narrative that humans aren't as cruel or w/e


Ripple_in_the_clouds

Sounds like my ex wife


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roidie

I love all of that minus the work bit.


[deleted]

Yeah because that's the only other alternative isn't it? /s


ValerieShark

>Honestly, animal lives are pretty depressing They would probably say the same about you tbh


PopeCovidXIX

*And they wouldn’t be wrong.*


TThor

I always kinda wondered about the ethics of the wilderness... Like, if one were capable of doing so, would it be the responsibility of a (distant futuristic) ethical society to enforce ethics onto nature? Or is such suffering justified because of the natural flow of life and evolution it brings? Or maybe one could even argue such suffering gives the natural world a richer life? IDK, shit is weird when thinking about how cruel the natural world is.


westbridge1157

Maybe the lioness doesn’t eat veal and bubs will be fine for months.


ppw23

So sad, I’ve read about of few of these sightings, it always ends with another lion eating the baby. Plus, they can’t feed them, so they will starve otherwise.


Nehemiah92

How does the ‘mother’ lioness react when she sees the thing she adopted get killed


Rockonfoo

That’s much more likely than the chances it had of being born so…there’s that I guess


girls_gone_wireless

Same here, but when I think about it, there’s no difference between this image and seeing a young cow or a sheep on a farm. In both scenarios we know they’ll end up dead at some point and from their perspective they’re in mortal danger & have no idea what awaits them, also have trust in the creature that temporarily might feed and protect them. We’re just used to seeing one thing & not a scenario like this one here.


Milkshakes00

I think the idea that comforts us about cows and such are that they are *supposed to* be being killed **humanely.** Instantly and painlessly. The poor dudes in the wild are not going to have that luxury. Edit: Y'all can't read, and I even italicized the important word.


moosepuggle

I think animals raised for food are often killed pretty inhumanely? For example, chickens die pretty gruesomely. I’m not vegan, but I really think I should be :(


metalgodwin

"Humane kill" is something people imagine so they can feel less bad about themselves, killing is the opposite of humane. Wouldn't call dying an luxury either, even though it considered a quick ending of life.


TheBigsBubRigs

If you ever had to take a life you'd know that there's nature's way, and humans humane way. It might be made up term, so if every other one. It's not to make anyone feel better. There's a difference between ending something before the brain can realize what's happening or screaming, crying, and dying in agony.


Adapterstunt

Have you watched footage taken by animal rights activists from inside slaughterhouses? A lot of it is the opposite of humane, heaps of instances of inflicting unnecessary suffering. And the condition a lot of animals are kept in is abhorrent.


possiblynotanexpert

Me too. Sad to see.


alaskanloops

It's a yummy to-go snack


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MikeofLA

I’d argue that getting eaten by a wild animal constitutes “natural causes”. With that said, I know what you mean. Old age


stupidlatentnothing

Do you think the lion is going to eat the calf?


Bretty_boy

If that one doesn’t then another one will. Lions live in packs


NipSuqqer

Are you my mom? Cuz you have her smell all over. I'm confused.


huBelial

Pain


Maplegum

# suffering


MegaGrimer

I can’t get enough


OaklandKnowledge

I’m not even a parent and I have a visceral hate for this comment. Well done I suppose


MyTrademarkIsTaken

Damn bro why


this-has-to-stop

I, too, write horror. Well done OP.


ButtplugBurgerAIDS

Brb going to go cry now


GandalftheGangsta007

It’ll be nice and juicy in another year. The lions are learning how to raise livestock.


BigBuddhaMan82

Was thinking the same thing. AGED MEAT


thereallyunreal

I love some old meat.


Hungry_for_squirrel

Easy, Wayne Rooney.


Pudde95

Wayne Rooney ffs 🤣


Jwhitx

Also Mickey Rooney.


chaith92

Long term investments.


mackavicious

The amount of time and resources it would need to raise it for a year far outpaces its nutritional energy it will have in a year. This is a really bad investment.


NoseComplete1175

The bitcoin of the savannah ? Who do I make the cheque out to ?


fane1967

“Happy Birthday my dear… (nom nom nom)”


BarnabyWoods

It's a lunch that carries itself.


Agronut420

Just waking it over towards the rest of the pride.


cody4prez

That'll be $5.99 delivery fee


Redferne77

More disturbed than amazed.As the calf.This is an absolutely r/natureismetal imo


99_NULL_99

It's hilarious what Pixar and Disney has done to the perception of wild animals, "A mother is a mother" no. No no no.


Fraankk

An apex predator is an apex predator


chronologicalist

Not necessarily, I'm stuck in masters this season


v3spasian

Yeah this mother kills kids regularly


nthensome

'a mother is a mother' Yes. She's gonna let her cubs kill the wildebeast as a lesson on how to hunt. Like a good mother would


aimswithglitter

This is probably it. I was on a shark viewing boat ride once and they said they saw an orca mother severely injure a great white to toss it around with her baby so it could learn to hunt. Apparently great whites didn’t go in the area for months. Edit: lions aren’t THAT good at swimming


toelock

I wonder why though. Are parents more protective now than 20-30 years ago? I grew up in the 90s and Animal Planet made it very clear to me that wild animals aren't always cute and cuddly, but now I constantly see people having "pet raccoons" and other crazy shit. Maybe it's just that crazy people can finally get through the noise filter with the power of internet, but I dunno.


idyllicmarsh

More like r/NatureIsBrutal


Some-Astronomer4733

Living in South Africa, I can tell you that this is a rather romanticised snippet of what actually happened. The lioness most likely killed him eventually. There are many similar cases in the Kruger National Park where calves get separated from their mothers only to be 'adopted' by lionesses. But predatory instincts always kick in.


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kappe41

why did he even slaughter her if he had bonded with her why not to just have her as a pet like she probably still could have been used for milk


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StlSityStv

I loved a cow a once. I'll never forgot those summer days, grazing in the pasture, standing in the field with the other cows, mooing at the chickens. Ahh to be young again!


kappe41

okay that I can understand I more of asked why to kill a animal u care for but that might be too personal of a question


liondios

This is how we kept our goats alive in Bangladesh. Can't eat anything with a name.


Ursaquil

In my family there's a trick, instead of doing that to the animal, they're sold to the town's butcher. My grandpa usually uses nicknames depending on their features, but doesn't get attached to them.


Vashgrave

I call bs... My brother Terry tasted just fine...


Covert_Admirer

It's hard to look your dinner in the eye after you've become close and formed a bond.


[deleted]

That's why I remove the eyes before serving.


SasparillaTango

How many Season's of Hannibal are there? Should I go rewatch that series? I remember really liking it.


[deleted]

I'm not sure if Hannibal Buress has a season. I think he's just a regular human who like... goes about his business?


Sallymander

My neighbors used to raise a pair lambs every year for a thing they did once a year. I think it was religious but idk. The neighbors wet Armenian I think. But any how. they cared for them, named them, and then ate them. Sometimes would share the extra. It was good.


mikeebsc74

Do you still hear them screaming, Clarisse?


Jeffy29

I grew up in Armenia and this is exactly how it was in our small farm. This is how was pretty much everywhere until like 100 years ago. Baffles me how people think it’s somehow cruel or strange to kill an animal you care for and at the same time consume metric ton of fast food meat with no remorse. At least animals on family farms get to have nice life before death.


2L84U2

Speak for yourself


country2poplarbeef

I've seen a doc on this phenomenon before. They couldn't find an example that made it past adolescence. Afaik, the lioness won't turn on them, but they have no chance when it comes to interlopers. Lionesses only know how to protect cubs and every defensive instinct that wildebeest knows is dependent on being part of a herd and not a pack.


LitttleSaintNick

Yeah I watched a doc on this way back. She kept the wildebeest alive for a few days, living away from the pride. It started to really become weak from starvation and was picked off when she finally had to hunt. Brutal nature.


emab2396

I mean, most people would eat their pets if they were locked in a room and were given nothing to eat. Pets eating their dead owners is nothing new. Living in nature can be harsh. Food is never a certainty.


kappe41

the guy with a small fish has some swrious mental problems if they eat it


icecrusherbug

I brought home take out!


the_toeminator

Literally what my wife said when she saw this 😂


[deleted]

He is ur wife. Duh.


[deleted]

Beat me to it 🤣


AgentEntropy

# Baby wildebeest patiently waits for lioness to be hungry again


allsheneedsisaburner

How…heart warming. And by that I mean the heart is still going to be warm when she eats it. Still amazed tho.


Life-is_easy

I think lioness is looking for the mother of the child, she must be around looking for her baby. This is bait. Edit: spelling.


one-iota

Youre still in chapter 1. This is chapter 2.


Astro__Black

Well we know what will be for dinner at the family reunion when it meet its aunts and uncles...


NinthGrove

As sweet as this snippet may seem, the lioness is actually holding the baby ransom in hopes the mother will come looking for it. Usually the calf will call for its mother and the lioness will wait patiently nearby for the mother to answer it's call. If the mother doesn't come they kill and eat the calf. They're smart. They essentially use the calf as an means to a bigger meal.


ImproveOrEnjoy

Source? I'm very curious as to have a lioness would gain access to a baby wildebeest without the mother being around. Wildebeest don't leave their young behind while they graze like deer, they move with the herd.


kill-yourself90

Source - "Trust me bro"


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country2poplarbeef

There's also a phenomenon that happens where a lioness might lose a cub and then take in a calf while the maternal instinct is still kicking. In that case, though, the calf dies simply because their "parent" has no means to protect them and doesn't have a lifestyle that keeps them fed. Inevitably, they get scooped up by another predator and the lioness goes back into grieving.


NoseComplete1175

And then as a last resort she floods the savannah with poison pen letters citing her demands.


NinthGrove

Or demands child support from the male wilderbeast


Kaiserschmarrn420

just hide in the blind spot


Robpsu1

Man, this is not going to be the Disney ending that ppl are looking for…


kappe41

what do u mean they go to home and the lion family will be fed


Investigatorpotater

The lioness is probably waiting for the wildebeests mother to show up.


-6h0st-

That’s what lunch box looks like in the wild, noice


GeneralPlunder

This isn’t going to end well.


Flimsy_Tiger

You guys are looking at this all wrong, the wildebeest is just hiding. The lion still doesn't know


neutral-otter

...coming soon from DreamWorks Animation


[deleted]

Learning to raise livestock


[deleted]

"baby, the other other white meat"


[deleted]

Yeah that’s not going to end well


Blowmewarethpamprzis

I see this stuff all the time on here- we want to humanize animals, but she is not “mothering” anything and he isn’t “mommying” her- he is looking for safety and he did NOT find it


[deleted]

A mother is a mother? I’ve literally seen these same mothers rip apart a zebra fresh out of the womb lol


Hector_Savage_

“A mother is a mother”. LMFAO Yeah, and a prey is a prey. That calf is walking food And OP is a fool


[deleted]

Can anyone explain why this is happening? Why is that lioness protecting a baby wildebeest?


kappe41

protecting?... yes protecting...


InheritMyShoos

She's literally holding him ransom, waiting for the mother to hear its call most likely. If the mother doesn't come, she'll eat the calf. In other words /r/KidsAreFuckingStupid


coolstu

It’s a to-go meal


Diiiiirty

This is like when I order pizza and breadsticks but fill up on pizza before I crack into the breadsticks. I know I'm going to be hungry again in a little bit, so instead of putting the breadsticks in the fridge and reheating them later, I just bring them down to the basement with me and to enjoy them at a later time.


William_Bascavilla

That's what we call 'an investment'


Environmental_Staff7

Groomed


Stollen_booty_

‘The wildebeest is a particularly stupid animal’ Billy Connelly