As these extraordinary images show, it is not only humans who face the unexpected extra burden of caring for children. Singa, an African lion, discovered that his pride of five stubborn cubs had more than a handful of seconds. Perhaps we should say a pawful, when their mother was away.
While he seems to be doing her best, her parenting skills have not been up to the task of caring for his cubs at the Pakawi Park Zoo in Belgium while her mother JJ receives medical attention.
Singa, an African lion living at the Pakawi Park Zoo in Belgium, was caring for his five cubs while their mother was hospitalized after being injured by another lioness.
Singa tried to take the children to a safer place, as their mother would have done, but she didn’t know how, so the children cried every time he came near them.
Wildlife photographer Linda Smit says: ,,The father was gentle with the cubs and very tolerant of their backs, but became agitated when the cubs started biting their tails. Another lioness attacked the mother. She had bad injuries. They separated her from her cubs for several weeks to recover. So their father had to look after them. He tried to move them to a place he thought was safer, like their mother would have done. But as a male, he had neither the skill nor the experience to lift them properly. Although he was very gentle with the children, they screamed every time he approached them and tried to move them.”
The cubs were clearly delighted when JJ was put back on her feet by zoo veterinarians and returned to their cage, as seen in the last photo. The puppies were overjoyed to be reunited with their favorite parent.