Photo: iStockphoto
A lion cub left in the bush while its mother went hunting became the hunted in a shocking video.
In the video, the predator seized the opportunity as the mother lioness was away and carried the baby lion up a tree in Tanzania’s Ruaha National Park.
“At first, I was shocked by what I saw, but quickly accepted it as part of nature,” said videographer Scott Hyman. “While my heart broke for the cub, I was excited and thrilled to have witnessed such a rare event, a once-in-a-lifetime wildlife viewing.”
Luckily, the footage appears to be edited to avoid showing the leopard eating the cub.
On occasion, leopards will kill and consume lions cubs if they are left unattended, according to experts. However, the majority of the time, leopards try to avoid lions.