- NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters)
- A lioness who has already defied nature twice this year by adopting
a baby oryx -- an antelope that Africa's top predator usually likes to
eat -- has done it again, adopting a third oryx.
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- Game wardens at Samburu National Park said Monday they
had found the lioness with a four or five-day-old oryx called Easter Saturday.
She had previously adopted new born oryxes over New Year and on Valentine's
Day.
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- On each occasion, she has given the calves affection,
protection from other lions, and even allowed their natural mothers to
come and feed them.
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- "Yesterday, two oryxes came (near the lion and calf),
probably the mother and father," chief warden Simon Leirana told Reuters.
"The lioness left the calf and went to sleep in the shade.
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- "The calf went to its mother and started suckling
for about three minutes, then the lioness ran toward them and the mother
oryx ran away."
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- Leirana said the calf tried to follow its mother, but
was pursued by the lioness who eventually won "her" baby back.
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- Wardens said the latest adoptee looked well and strong.
Oryx number two was taken away from the lioness after its condition deteriorated
from lack of food.
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- Oryx number one was not so lucky. The lioness managed
to protect it for two weeks before a hungry male lion with a traditional
diet seized the baby while the lioness was napping.
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