JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — It's a scene that could be straight out of the movie, "The Lion King" -- A baboon grooming a lion cub.
While visiting South Africa's Kruger National Park over the weekend, safari-goers snapped an unusual sight -- a male baboon carrying a baby lion up into a tree to be groomed, as if it were it's own.
Safari operator Kurt Schultz says the troop of monkeys had gathered in an area with granite hills and boulders where lions and leopards have been known to hide their cubs while they go hunting, and that's likely how the baboons found the cub.
However, while the rare sight makes for a cute picture, it masks a harsh reality.
Schultz says the cub was showing signs of dehydration and may have been injured internally in the baboons' fight over the cat.
"I don't see a chance of this poor cub surviving. The troop of baboons was large and a lion would not be able to get the young back," Schultz said. "Nature is cruel at most times and the survival of a young predator cub is not easy. The lion cub would pose a threat to the baboons when it gets older. I have witnessed baboons viciously killing leopard cubs and have heard of baboons killing lion cubs."
As for a male baboon cleaning a little lion cub, Schultz says it's a behavior he's never seen in 20 years.
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