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Home Animals Brave Lioness Saves Cub From Flooding River

Brave Lioness Saves Cub From Flooding River

Share this incredible sighting with your friends:A pride of lions attempts to cross a dangerously high river, but one little cub struggles more than the others to get to the other side. When the raging current sweeps it away its mother must make a daring rescue!  Watch the Sighting: Callum Robertson, an experienced safari guide…

Michaela Fink
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A pride of lions attempts to cross a dangerously high river, but one little cub struggles more than the others to get to the other side. When the raging current sweeps it away its mother must make a daring rescue! 

Watch the Sighting:

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Callum Robertson, an experienced safari guide for Sabi Sands, was in Kruger National Park with his group. They had spent much of their day in search of a pride of lions with cubs they knew were in the area.

After a long search, the group came across the pride on the side of a riverbank. This particular river was flooding, with raging waters and strong currents.

As the lions crawled through the reeds, Callum realized the lions were preparing to make a crossing. The situation was extremely tense, would the little ones be able to safely make it to the other side?

The Pride Faces the Rapids

Finally, the lions began to make their way into the water. One by one they swam across, struggling against the power of the current.

The river roared with fury, its powerful currents threatening to claim anything brave—or foolish—enough to enter. Yet, the pride had no choice but to face the rapids.

“We held our breath. One of my guests couldn’t even watch as she had her head tucked between her legs.”

Just then Callum noticed one little cub that was struggling more than the others. All of the other lions had safely managed to cross the river including the other cub, and were watching in anticipation as the second cub tried its best to swim to safety.

Its mother was leading the way, trying to show the cub the best way to make it to the other side. This is when Callum decided to take out his camera and capture the moment.

Paws in Peril

The mother managed to swim up to a shelf where she could sit and wait for her little one. She watched anxiously as her cub approached her.

Just as the cub nearly made it to its mother, a particularly strong current caught the cub and immediately swept it under!

In an instant, its mother jumped in after it! It wasn’t just a rescue, but an act of pure maternal instinct.

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As the two were carried downstream, the mother was eventually able to grab her cub with her teeth. She knew her little one was just barely hanging on to life, so she made a split-second decision to turn around and swim back to the side of the river they came from.

Swimming for Survival

As the mother frantically swam with her cub, one of the safari-goers remarked that its head was still under the water! It was a race against the clock for the mother to get her cub out of the water and safely breathing.

With a sigh of relief, the group watched as the mother finally made her way to shore and deposited her still-breathing cub on the sandy bank.

A Great Gamble

Like all cats, lions do not like to be in water. They will avoid it unless absolutely necessary.

In the wild, survival often requires weighing incredible risks against the ultimate reward—life itself. For this brave lioness, the risk of confronting the powerful river was worth every ounce of danger to ensure her cub’s survival.

Her courageous act is a powerful reminder of the instinctive balance between courage and caution in the wild, and the ferocity of a mother’s love.


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