Animals provide us with a unique companionship, filled with comfort, freedom, and self-determination. The following photos capture a myriad of unique moments of lighthearted antics, intensity, struggle, and even mortality.
Chimpanzee feeds a leopard cub – Southam Park Zoo (United Kingdom, 1971)
A Chimpanzee feeding a leopard cub: a seemingly odd, contradicting, yet adorable scene. No, this photo wasn’t taken from the film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). Photographed in 1971 at Southham Park Zoo in the UK, a nurturing, adult chimpanzee is pictured feeding a newborn leopard cub with a baby bottle. And what makes the picture even more unusual is that the primate is sitting on a human chair!
While typically, Leopard cubs are fed by their mothers, who they stay with for approximately two years—during which time they learn to hunt—this chimp proves that leopards aren’t the only animals with maternal instincts.
The Lion Selfie
This selfie is hands down one of the cutest, yet most dangerous selfies of the animal kingdom. This picture, captured by Kevin Richardson, most famously known as “The Lion Whisperer”, while overwhelmingly adorable, is also met by much scrutiny, considered highly irresponsible to many of those within the animal expert community. Richardson is also widely known for his wildlife conservation efforts, in particular, for the Kevin Richardson Wildlife Sanctuary. Its mission is to provide a self-sustaining African carnivore sanctuary for the purposes of wild species preservation.
Here, Richardson is known for his unorthodox, friendly relationship with the African lion, a close bond illustrated through a myriad of widely viewed, captivating YouTube videos featuring Richardson and his lions. Despite Richardson’s unusual relationship, it is important to remember that these big cats, while pictured as deceivingly warm and cuddly in Richardson’s numerous selfies, are still wild, dangerous animals.
