--- title: Lion Nursing Baby Leopard Seen in Tanzania description: “I know of no other example of inter-species adoption or nursing like this among big cats in the wild,” wrote Dr. Luke Hunter canonical: https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/ author: Emily Weyrauch article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-13T22:29:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:33:27.952Z article:section: Science og:title: African Lion Seen Nursing Baby Leopard For The First Time og:description: The first documented instance of such cross-species behavior og:url: https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt340096c1a60426d6/6988d59e7cdbacd71cd5931e/panthera-1_creditjoopvanderlinde.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1439 og:image:height: 809 og:image:alt: Lioness and Baby Leopard at Ndutu Lodge og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: African Lion Seen Nursing Baby Leopard For The First Time twitter:description: The first documented instance of such cross-species behavior twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt340096c1a60426d6/6988d59e7cdbacd71cd5931e/panthera-1_creditjoopvanderlinde.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Truly Unique:' Lion Seen Nursing Baby Leopard For The First Time > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Emily Weyrauch](https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Jul 13, 2017 10:29 PM UTC  In a rare sighting, a baby leopard is seen suckling on a lionness at Ndutu Lodge at Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area. In a rare sighting, a baby leopard is seen suckling on a lionness at Ndutu Lodge at Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Photo courtesy of Panthera/KopeLion via Joop Van Der Linde/Ndutu Lodge by [Emily Weyrauch](https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/) ## Emily Weyrauch Jul 13, 2017 10:29 PM UTC A wild lioness was photographed nursing a leopard cub in Tanzania on Tuesday, the first documented instance of such cross-species behavior. “This is a truly unique case,” wrote Dr. Luke Hunter, Australian biologist and President and Chief Conservation Officer for Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organization, in an email. The lioness, known as Nosikitok, is 5 years old, and the leopard cub is about 3 weeks old, said Susie Sheppard, Media and Digital Marketing Director of Panthera. The two were found in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area of Tanzania, a protected area known for its lion population according to its [website](http://www.ngorongorocrater.org/craters.html). “I know of no other example of [inter-species](http://time.com/4088776/baby-giraffe-baby-elephant-best-friends/) adoption or nursing like this among big cats in the wild,” wrote Hunter. The lioness recently gave birth to her own [cubs](http://time.com/4049581/cute-lion-cub-roar/), which means that she is “physiologically primed” to take care of baby cats, said Hunter. He added that her own cubs look very similar to the baby leopard and are of similar age. “Even so, there has never been another case like it,” said Hunter. “Why it has occurred now is mystifying.” However, Hunter was doubtful that the [leopard](http://time.com/3890508/clouded-leopard-cubs-quadruplets/) cub would survive for much longer. “Lions are very well equipped to distinguish their cubs from others,” Hunter wrote. “If the rest of the pride finds the cub, it is likely it would be killed,” he wrote. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/"},"headline":"'Truly Unique:' Lion Seen Nursing Baby Leopard For The First Time","datePublished":"2017-07-13T22:29:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:33:27.952Z","description":"The first documented instance of such cross-species behavior","url":"https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/","keywords":["animals","Africa","Bizarre","World","tanzania","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt340096c1a60426d6/6988d59e7cdbacd71cd5931e/panthera-1_creditjoopvanderlinde.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Emily Weyrauch","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/emily-weyrauch/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt340096c1a60426d6/6988d59e7cdbacd71cd5931e/panthera-1_creditjoopvanderlinde.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lioness and Baby Leopard at Ndutu Lodge","caption":"In a rare sighting, a baby leopard is seen suckling on a lionness at Ndutu Lodge at Tanzania's Ngorongoro Conservation Area.","creditText":"Photo courtesy of Panthera/KopeLion via Joop Van Der Linde/Ndutu Lodge","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4857831/lion-nurses-leopard-cub-first-photo/","name":"'Truly Unique:' Lion Seen Nursing Baby Leopard For The First Time"}}]}] ```