Kurt Schultz was recording a safari in a park when he came upon a small lion baby surrounded by a baboon group. Their appearance was not promising. Kurt was frightened that they would tear apart the king of beasts’ vulnerable cub.
Visitors to the park were surprised when one of the guys grabbed the baby
and began climbing the tree with him. The other monkeys, fortunately, did
not rush after the elusive prey. Nonetheless, everyone who witnessed the
kidnapping felt their hearts sink with terror.
After all, the baboon leapt from branch to limb, and a tiny lion cub may fall out of his grasp at any moment and drop to the earth.
Furthermore, everyone was concerned that the baboon might return with
the lion cub to the tribe below. The baby would then have no chance of
survival. Thankfully, none of these occurred.
With a lion cub in his arms, the kidnapper sat quietly on one of the branches
and began to massage and caress him as if he were his cub. For a long
period, the male kept the lion cub in his paws, traveling with him from
branch to branch and exhibiting genuine parental care.
Everyone recalls a scene from the film in which the monkey saves Simba by capturing him and flying with him. This was the first time he’d ever seen a lion cub treated with such tenderness.