While visiting the Madikwe Game reserve in South Africa, the 33-year-old photographer witnessed a lioness eating an African antelope. The lion had bitten the antelope’s belly, it was lying on the ground slowly enjoying its meal.
Suddenly the lion realized there was something in the stomach of its prey, it used its strong teeth to pull out a young antelope. It turned out that its prey was pregnant. Photographer Gerry Van Der Walt and four tourists in a parking lot hold their breath, waiting for the lion’s next move.
The lioness appeared confused, she rubbed her nose against the young antelope on the ground to check if the cubs were still alive. After sniffing for a long time, it was discovered that the baby antelope had stopped breathing.
The lioness did not return to eat, her body language clearly showing her instability. It also seems to feel remorse for its behavior. The lion carefully carried the baby antelope into a bush and fell to the ground to fall asleep, after which he also left without eating the mother and the cubs.
This behavior of lionesses is not common for her species, other lions often just ignore and continue to eat even though the prey is pregnant. Photographer Gerry and the tourist seemed dumbfounded by the lion’s reaction, whether its maternal instincts would speak in this situation
