Lion Cub Rescued By Mother (PHOTOS)

There's nothing quite like a mother's love.

Even when you're talking about lions.

Jean-Francois Lagrot snapped these incredible shots of a lioness rescuing her struggling cub, who seems to be holding on for dear life. The perilous position of the young lion seems to have it within inches of losing its life, just before its mother comes to the rescue.

It's touching, to say the least.

The shots were taken at Kenya's Maasai Mara game reserve in August, according to MSNBC. The reserve is world famous for its astounding population of big cats, as well as zebras and gazelles. However, in recent years, the Mara has been in a bit of jeopardy as encroaching human populations have been posing a threat to the area, and closing in on animal populations.

You can see the lion cub drama play out in the slideshow below.

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Comments

[MarMayLing]

08:36 AM on 10/06/2011

Wow, photographers will plant baby animals in such precarious positions just to try to get some great shots.

[socalcde]

11:13 AM on 10/03/2011

Phew!

[Brigette]

05:16 PM on 10/02/2011

He's so grounded.

[HappierWithLess]

01:20 PM on 10/01/2011

Beautiful photage. I love these types of stories, much better than getting aggravated over politics. I live in Costa Rica and get to see a lot of cool animals everyday. There are even monkeys outside my window. www.happierthanabillionaire.com

[DinahMoeHum]

12:02 PM on 10/01/2011

We humans could learn a few lessons from cats about caring for our children.

[djtoothdecay]

09:47 AM on 10/01/2011

Was any else hoping the last picture was gonna be the pride of lions chasing a herd of Kardashians?

[Lahonda]

11:33 AM on 10/01/2011

...giant black hairballs for everyone!

[djtoothdecay]

11:46 AM on 10/01/2011

Hahahahaha!!! YES!!!

[Robert Cepeda]

05:22 AM on 10/01/2011

was that even a cliff? or was it just stuck in a ditch?

[jox58]

10:33 PM on 10/02/2011

Ravines are cut by water erosion. At the bottom is likely a flowing river or stream that would have carried it away.

[lifehub]

05:17 AM on 10/01/2011

Whew...so glad the baby's okay!

Never underestimate the power of a mother to save her young. She's the most motivated, powerful, and resourceful entity who'll eat mica countertops when it comes to her kids.

[abrellis]

01:48 AM on 10/01/2011

Great photos! So nice to see animal nature in action without the commercial ruin of a habitat.

[Cindy M Brito]

12:43 AM on 10/01/2011

Lioness 1, nature taking her cub 0.

[Mary Strobridge]

12:15 AM on 10/01/2011

@Heda,for innocence lost? It would depend on who was really the neglicent one,can't compare/the wildlife in the same context/ versus/ humans,there is a lesson to learn here.Only a loving mother would want to save their child from danger,and than the mother should punish it afterwards for having to rescue the infant that was near death? How absurd.

[thrugreeneyez]

12:10 AM on 10/01/2011

Animals are sentient beings! Be kind to all animals! No animal cruelty!

[lisakaz2]

10:54 PM on 09/30/2011

Aww. Go Mom!

[ranwolf1976]

11:21 PM on 09/30/2011

Darn it. I was gonna write the same thing.

[MelissaBlackburn Cansler]

09:46 PM on 09/30/2011

Amazing photography! Thank you for sharing.

[gleannfia]

08:37 PM on 09/30/2011

I love all animals, but especially the feline family. How inspiring and precious!