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The leopard sought the cow’s warmth for a time, but once she reached adulthood, her need for motherly affection diminished. She moved on.
    Even with such a plausible explanation, “This relationship was unimaginable,” says Rohit. “We were all spellbound by it. Who would expect a carnivore and hunter like a leopard to show love and affection toward its prey?”

{S OUTH A FRICA , 2010}

The
Lion Cub
and the
Caracal Siblings

    CARACAL

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Felidae
GENUS:
Caracal
SPECIES:
C. caracal

    LION

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Felidae
GENUS:
Panthera
SPECIES:
Panthera leo
    Misfortune for a handful of wild cats led to a happy mingling of species at a South African reserve.
    It happened at the Pumba Private Game Reserve in Port Elizabeth, a place where lions stalk and cheetahs race, where zebras and giraffes form stoic silhouettes on the dusty plains, and where rhinos and elephants turn watering holes into muddy plunge pools.
    First, a lion cub named Sheba was brought to Pumba for rehabilitation. Sheba’s mother, while still heavily pregnant, had been mistakenly caught by a game relocation team. Two of her cubs died shortly after birth, and she abandoned the third—most likely as a result of the stress of the capture.
    Staff at the Pumba Reserve took in the abandoned lion cub and did their best to fill the maternal void. They planned to raise her for eighteen months, then introduce her to a pride of lions on the nearly 7,000-hectare stretch of woodland and open plains.
    Not too long after that, a pair of young caracal were brought to the reserve. Caracal are a smallish, quick-footed, lynxlike species that roams the open country of Africa and the Middle East. The caracal siblings had lost their mother to hunting dogs on a nearby farm after she had attacked the resident farmer’s sheep. Normally, caracal kittens stick with their mothers for as much as a year, so without a stand-in parent the babies’ future was grim. As they had with the lion cub, the staff at the Pumba Reserve did their best to mother the caracals. They named the brother–sister duo Jack and Jill. And they had a playmate for the kittens in mind—Sheba, the little, lonely lion cub.
    Sheba, Jack, and Jill formed an instant bond. “They all live together in our farm house with our dog Frankie,” says reserve director Dale Howarth, whose home sits on the boundary of the wildland. “They play together like any domestic cats, but obviously they are a lot bigger and more boisterous—and do a lot of damage to our carpets and furniture. Climbing up curtains is no challenge at all.”
    The three cats sleep together in a furry heap in the bedroom Dale shares with his wife, allowing for the regular feedings the youngsters require. At about twelve months, he says, the caracals will be given free range of the reserve, while the lioness will begin to separate from the “family” at about eighteen months, when she’s ready to find a mate. “At that point, all the cats will be free to come and go as they feel comfortable; there’s no pressure on the animals to stay or leave,” Dale says.
    Until then, each day is a sweet medley of eating, sleeping on the veranda, tumbling, grappling, clawing, and startling their caretakers as they race with mad abandon through house and garden. Kittens will be kittens, after all. Until they grow into caracals and lions.

{G EORGIA , U.S.A., 2001}

The
Lion,
the
Tiger,
and the
Bear

    AMERICAN BLACK BEAR

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Ursidae
GENUS:
Ursus
SPECIES:
Ursus americanus

    TIGER

KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Chordata
CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Felidae
GENUS:
Panthera
SPECIES:
Panthera tigris
    Oh, my! It’s the big three that spooked Dorothy and her Oz