A baboon recreated an iconic scene from ‘The Lion King’ by carrying a lion cub, and the photographer said he’d never seen anything like it

• A male baboon was photographed carrying around a lion cub, in a scene straight out of “The Lion King.”
• The unusual scene took place on the morning of February 1 at Kruger National Park in South Africa.
• Kurt Safari operator Kurt Schultz said he’d never seen such behavior in 20 years.
• He told the Associated Press: “Male baboons do a lot of grooming but the care given to this lion cub was the same care given by a female baboon to one of her own young.”
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Many of us are familiar with the iconic scene in “The Lion King,” when Rafiki the baboon holds a young Simba aloft in front of all the animals of the savanna. It turns out a version of that very thing has actually happened. And, of course, there are photos to prove it.

The bizarre scene happened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park on February 1. Kurt Safari operator Kurt Schultz said he’d never seen such behavior in 20 years.

He told Associated Press the male baboon was treating the lion cub as if it were one of its babies.

"Male baboons do a lot of grooming but the care given to this lion cub was the same care given by a female baboon to one of her own young," he said.

He said the baboon kept moving from branch to branch, carrying the cub with him. Schultz added the cub "seemed very exhausted," and appeared to be showing signs of dehydration on what was a hot morning.

He said it was possible the baboons had discovered the lion cub, adding that a group (known as a "troop") of the primates were in an area where lions and leopards were known to sometimes leave their cubs while they went out to hunt prey.

While Rafiki was known to be kind and nurturing (if a bit mischievous) in "The Lion King," Schultz told Associated Press it's doubtful the real-life baboon would take care of the lion cub as well as Rafiki took care of Simba. He said the troop of baboons was large enough that it would be hard for the mother to snatch her child back, and had heard of baboons sometimes even killing lion cubs.

"Nature is cruel at most times and the survival of a young predator cub is not easy," he said.

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