Lion Dad Struggles To Take Care Of His Five Cubs While The Lion Mom Is Recovering

Parenting is not easy and this lion dad will definitely agree.

Mary

• Published in Animals
• March 12, 2022

If babysitting was a sport, those who had never experienced taking care of children would surely discover how difficult it is to raise a child. How much more if you have two or more?

For those parents who can afford to have a babysitter to watch over their children, it is an advantage because they can spend the rest of their time working, traveling, hanging out with friends, and doing other activities that full-time parents cannot. However, you should not forget that it is important that parents should also have enough time to bond with their children, not letting all of their responsibilities be handled by the babysitter.

In addition, it is a challenge for both parents and babysitters to make sure that the children are safe. Knowing that children can be a handful sometimes, their curiosity can possibly get them in trouble if adults are not vigilant enough.

On the other hand, it is amazing to see that animals have their own share of difficult parenting moments like humans. Just like the photos captured by a wildlife photographer named Linda Smit.

The photographer took the hilarious photos at Pakawi Park Zoo in Belgium. You can scroll down to read more about why this African lion dad is left alone, looking helpless with his mischievous cubs.

Lion dad thinking about what to do with his stubborn cub. He looks like he is going to have a headache.

Linda explained that the mother of the cubs named JJ was being taken to the zoo's medical recovery. She was bitten by another lioness.

Even though the mother only had minor injuries from the attack, she still needed a few days to rest and was not allowed to be with her cubs. This is why the father of the five cubs, Singa, was left to take care of them.

"The mother was attacked by another lioness. She had severe injuries and had to be separated from her cubs for a few weeks to heal," the photographer said.

If this wasn't his cub, he probably would have lost his temper.

"Although he was very gentle with the cubs, they screamed every time he came near and tried to move them. He was very tolerant with them, but he did get a bit grumpy when they were biting his tail," she added.

Taking the cub back to where the other cubs are.

"He was trying to lift them, like the mother would do, to carry them to what he probably thought was a safer place. But as a male, he didn’t have the skills or experience to properly lift them," she described.

Finally! Lion mom is here to save the day!

After almost a week of medical treatment, JJ was back in the zoo. Her cubs were happy as shown in the picture, but you can consider the dad is happier to know he is free at last from the headaches in the past few days.

The photos above are clearly pieces of evidence of how hard it is to be a parent, especially if you are alone. However, for those who did manage to take care of their children for how many years, you can try and ask them what their superpowers are for their remarkable job!

Mary