A wild lioness reacted unexpectedly, after she realized that she had hunted an antelope that was pregnant.
The nature of animals is still incomprehensible to many of us. They come to behave absolutely out of the ordinary, either aggressively or tenderly.
Recently, in the Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa, ranger Gerry Van der Walt witnessed something that left him completely perplexed and wanted to share it, because of the great importance it has.
Lionesses usually hunt together, in groups, attacking mainly large ungulates.
Gerry and a group of visitors were able to witness the lioness hunting an antelope, from the moment it began to stalk her until it finally caught up with its prey.
After she caught up with the antelope, everyone expected her to start feeding on her prey, but what she did left Gerry speechless.
They saw the lioness approach the antelope’s stomach and tug at it, but as the scene became clearer, they noticed that it was not actually the stomach, but a baby antelope.
The lioness got the surprise of her life when she discovered that her victim was about to become a mother.
“I’ve seen lionesses kill other pregnant prey and nothing happens, they just continue feeding as if nothing happened,” said Gerry, absolutely flabbergasted.
“From that moment on the lioness’s behavior changed completely, she seemed to be confused by what was going on. She started looking around as if she expected to get help from somewhere,” the ranger added.
The lion is a super predator and keystone, although it can engage in scavenging behavior if given the opportunity.
Despite its quintessential hunting nature, it seemed to empathize that there may have been a life there, and that seemed to completely stir and unsettle it.
“The lioness stopped feeding to stand next to the baby antelope, wiggling it with her nose as if trying to get it to react and get up. She took it in her mouth and remained motionless for what seemed like an eternity, not knowing what to do with it. He looked in all directions as if waiting for something.”
“After a few minutes he began to walk away from the thicket, to get closer to the mother antelope. He stopped before her and very carefully placed the baby antelope on the ground. The whole time she kept looking around, she looked tense and nervous,” he said.
She looked as if she wanted to revive the baby at all times, it was as if she understood that a mother always respects herself.
“The lioness slowly walked back to where the lifeless body of the mother antelope lay, but it wasn’t to eat again. What the lioness did was to lie down next to the body until she fell asleep.”
It was perhaps her way of saying to him, “I didn’t mean to do that to you, and here I am.”
That was the most extraordinary moment for Gerry and all the visitors, who had been watching the surreal scene from a distance.
What they all wondered was whether the lioness felt any remorse for taking a mother’s life or for failing to save the baby antelope.
“I don’t know if I will ever understand exactly what happened, but I know that in a way that was somewhere between cruel and beautiful, we witnessed the magic of Africa and its animals,” Gerry concluded.
A disconcerting and touching experience that shows that even wild animals can be more sensitive and compassionate than humans.
It may be hard to believe that animals can have such a degree of conscience to regret their actions, especially if they are wild animals that hunt for the sole purpose of feeding themselves.
In any case, this shocking story does not fail to leave us with the most profound life lessons. If only we humans were at least a little like these sublime animals.
