Watch: Lion cub being groomed by baboon compared to ‘Simba and Rafiki’ on social media

The area where the video was recorded was one where lions and leopards usually hid their cubs when they went hunting.

lion cub with baboon, baboon preens lion cub, baboon groom lion cub, Kruger national park, rafiki with simba, the lion king, viral videos, indian express

Many thought the sighting was very similar to the Disney film, The Lion King, where little Simba was seen with Rafiki, the baboon.

An amateur photographer captured the unusual sight of a male baboon grooming a lion cub, and a video of the incident has people on social media comparing it with a scene from the film The Lion King.

Kurt Schultz, who captured the video in the Kruger national park in South Africa, said that he initially thought it must be a female baboon, but it turned out to be a young male.

“The young baboon crossed the road and climbed up a Marula tree. I waited for about 30 min before it came into view and was moving from tree to tree, the rest of the troop then moved away and the baboon was grooming and caring for the lion cub as if this was a young baboon,” Schultz told LatestSightings.com.

Despite the fact that the baboons normally hunt lion cubs, Schultz said that the cub was alive and didn’t seem to have any obvious injuries.

Speaking about the area where the video was recorded, Schultz said that lions and leopards usually hid their cubs there when they went hunting.

“I spent about 1 hour at the sighting and decided to leave as I had a meeting at 9 am. It is normal for a troop of baboons to kill young leopard and even lion, however after 20 years of guiding this is the first time I have seen a baboon nurturing and caring for a young predator cub,” Schultz said.

On social media, some people compared it to The Lion King’s Simba and baboon Rafiki, while others said the lion cub must have met with a tragic end.

THIS is the incredible moment a baboon rescued a lion cub from danger by holding it aloft – just like Rafiki did to Simba in The Lion King. pic.twitter.com/lrmepWWITB

— Kevin (@matrinkevin) February 5, 2020

Oh my goodness!! Just adorable
“A male baboon carrying and grooming a lion cub is an unusual sight, yet it happened over the weekend in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.”
😍🦁#lionkingparallels @LatestKruger @SouthAfrica pic.twitter.com/qAxvP2jqDw

— Kimberly M.Baker (@KimberlyMBaker1) February 4, 2020

the baboon clearly watched lion king too many times

— Reo Shelby (@hakimoreo) February 4, 2020

So this baboon thinks he is Rafiki?we shall see in a few month if that cub is Simba🤣🤣

— Ishmael Chiwayu (@IshmaelChiwayu) February 5, 2020

pic.twitter.com/SZv6FTgIk4

— Smiley Desire (@mo_afghan) February 4, 2020

I love this photograph of a baboon and a lion cub, recreating the famous scene from the Lion King. I just hope it ended well for “Simba”. pic.twitter.com/5mOC1bcZfk

— Mike Williams (@MikesVoice) February 4, 2020

I’m sure this is how it actually ended pic.twitter.com/CFXOpSvEFo

— Vinny Vega (@VinnyxVega) February 4, 2020

But the baby is going to die! 😭💔

— Jamie (@TheJamieEffect) February 4, 2020

The baboon wasn’t grooming the cub, he was cleaning his food for dinner.

— Brian du Plessis (@Brian2plus3) February 5, 2020

That is normal for baboon to take lion cub, human babies, lamb to groom and sometimes they will kill their stolen victim.

— Ratel (@de_gerhardus) February 5, 2020

Don’t be fooled – this isn’t the @Disney movie. That was breakfast!

— REM (@MiggiSmalls3) February 4, 2020
Story continues below this ad

“I don’t see a chance of this poor cub surviving. The troop of baboons was large and a lion would not be able to get the young back,” Schultz told AP. A report by LatestSightings later confirmed that the cub didn’t survive.