The Lioness And The Baby Oryx

This tale is strange – quite unbelievable actually.
Yet I saw it on Animal Planet. I swear it’s true.
On the African plains a lion and oryx are naturally
predator and prey. But one lioness set Nature askew.

An immature lioness lost all the members of her pride,
poisoned by tribal herdsmen some say. Bewildered,
she wandered lost and alone. A baby oryx should hide
instinctively from predators; however, nothing deterred

one newborn oryx from approaching the lioness.
Then a most unusual thing happened. Instead of
killing the young antelope standing defenseless
before her, the lioness accepted it, showing it love.

The two – predator and prey – lay together in peace.
Wherever the oryx went, the lioness followed, acting
as its guardian and protector. Her hunting now ceased;
she would not eat, if it meant her new friend abandoning.

Word spread of the strange sight of the lion and oryx
bonded together. People flocked to see this bizarre
pairing of enemies. They were amazed as the lioness licked
and groomed the antelope calf. This was a scene, as far

as all knew, never before witnessed by Man. The scientists
hypothesized the lioness had become desperately deprived
for social interaction and such deep longing often manifests
itself in aberrant behaviors. Talk of the work of God thrived

among the tribesmen. They considered this a miracle at hand.
For all, this was a poignant event … but one doomed to failure
all too soon. The young oryx had no mother to suckle, and
it was too young to digest grass. It would starve. No cure

could be found. For fifteen days the lioness and her unlikely
baby stayed together, slowly growing weaker from hunger.
On the last day, the antelope wandered away, to be savagely
attacked by a male lion. The lioness watched the slaughter,

helpless to intervene. She reacted as a mother losing her own
cub. Nature had restored order. The lioness survived; later she
adopted several other antelope calves. All died, except one lone
baby oryx who was reunited with its parent. Some say maybe

that was how it was supposed to end, perhaps the intent
was for the lioness to restore one of her prey to its mother,
for after this, the lioness simply disappeared. Where she went
is unknown. She became legend, her actions unlike any other.


Please check out my ten books:
http://www.amazon.com/Jr.-Harry-E.-Gilleland/e/B004SVLY02/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0