You can’t deny it, wildlife photographers have awesome jobs! Sometimes they are in danger, but they also experience close encounters with nature and all its beautiful or tragic things… And as any artists, wildlife photographers have the skill to capture things we’d never believe if not for the photos themselves! For example, a couple of photographers caught these next incredible images and a short video with a lion preying on a baboon mother.
But they never thought this would happen to the baby baboon…
20. Botswana, Africa
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These incredible photographs were taken by Evan Schiller and Lisa Holzwarth. They were witnesses of a tragedy but had to stay put and let nature run its course. A lion caught a mother baboon and wanted to prey on it…
19. Almost Getting Away
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Evan and Lisa saw that on the mother’s side there was a little baboon still gripping tightly onto her. The lion didn’t notice it while she carried her prey in her mouth. But soon, the baby baboon would get caught!
18. He Tried to Run
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The poor orphan almost ran unnoticed, when the lion sensed something moving from the baboon’s corpse. She saw the baby baboon and began chasing it toward a tree. The photographers knew it had no chance! Here’s what Lisa Holzwarth said…
17. A Game of Chase
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‘As soon as the lionesses noticed the escapees, a chase pursued and we followed close behind, two of the three baboons found the nearby treetops, but the third was grabbed as she tried scaling the tree.’ The one caught was the mother baboon.
16. ‘We Noticed a Baby’
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‘We noticed a little baby […] slowly disengaged from its mother’s dying body,’ said Lisa. As soon as he got away, he tried to run to a tree. The poor baby was about a month young, but when his instincts kicked in… the lioness noticed it!
15. An intriguing Moment
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The lioness ‘did not go for the “kill” which would have taken less than a Nano-second’ said the photographer. We don’t know if the cat was playing with the little baboon like all the cats do with their prey. But then the lion does this!
14. Cat and Mouse
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Lisa said that it looked like a cat and mouse game but in the wild African version. The baby monkey was jumping up a tree, falling, ‘screaming and hitting the lioness on her nose.’ The lioness knocked the baby off every time it climbed up.
13. It Was Exhausting!
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And when the poor orphan baboon gave up, the lioness took it in its mouth. Lisa said that ‘at that moment she could have swallowed it whole without a blink of an eye.’ But instead, the lioness reacts in a whole different way…
12. They Were Shocked
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‘What happened next blew our minds, the baby, in another instinctual moment, held onto the lioness’ chest and tried to suckle.’ And the lioness just went ahead with it and accepted her role as a mother… And it’s not over yet!
11. That’s Not All!
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Unfortunately, the cuddles would soon stop. Talking about snuggles, some people think that the lioness was probably just playing with the prey, not cuddling it. Nevertheless, the moment was quite unique. But the lioness had visitors…
10. ‘Welcoming’ the Visitors
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The snuggles end when two lionesses approach the lioness and her baby baboon. She gets distracted and starts defending her territory and, perhaps, her prey. Guess who’s up in the trees!
9. Saving The Little Baboon
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Somewhere up in the trees, above the lions, a rescue mission is underway! The lioness is busy fighting the others and it’s a perfect moment for the baboons to get down and pick up the confused baby.
8. The Baboon Leader
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Lisa said that before the lionesses appeared, the ‘baboon leader and baby’s father was climbing up and down his tree, calling loudly and making whatever noise he could to distract the lionesses.’
7. It Was Pure Luck
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The baboon leader gets lucky when the lions challenge the lioness and she forgets about the baboons and about the baby she was initially protecting. The lions were making such a scene, that the baboons had time to save the baby!
6. The Brave Hero Descended
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With a lot of courage, the male baboon gets on the ground, quickly takes the baby and hops up toward his brothers. Lisa said that the poor father ‘had been trying to no avail to rescue the baby’. But in the end, he did it…
5. A Patient Father
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He could finally ‘climb down the tree, grab the baby and then head back up to safety,’ continued Lisa with her amazing story. Unfortunately, the lioness saw that her baboon toy was missing and just sat under the tree, waiting for the baboons to come down…
4. It Was a Hot Day
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The trees didn’t have too much shelter from the heat of the sun and the baboons really needed some shade. In the end, the lioness backs down to take cover and they all make a run toward the closest shaded trees!
3. Was the Baby Still Alive?
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After so many paws received from the lioness, the baby baboon seemed to have survived the terrible experience with the help of his family. The photographers said that they saw it ‘alive and safe in his father’s arms’ when they left…
2. ‘How I Like to Remember It’
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Lisa also said that no matter what the baby baboon’s fate was, this is how she wants to remember it: that the baby was safe in the arms of his father. Her next words are very touching.
1. An Inspiration For All of Us
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The baby baboon ‘remains an inspiration and a reminder that life is fragile,’ said Lisa. And it might seem heartbreaking, but this is the essence of life: one day you have it all and the next day you could easily lose everything.
That’s why we must enjoy every second of it!