Wildlife photographer captures rare sight of lion cubs just a few hours old

It looks like the perfect image of a mother’s love – a newborn lion cub nuzzling its mother for protection.

The sight of the tiny cub and its two siblings, thought to be just hours old, out in the open so young is rare and was immortalised by British wildlife photographer Vince Burton on a safari trip to Kenya.

But the tale had a tragic end, with the cubs killed just a few days later by the male in their pride.

A British wildlife photographer has captured the rare sight of lion cubs just a few hours old
Tiny – the cubs were thought to be just a few hours old (Pictures: SWNS)

Vince, 40, spotted the three young cubs during a trip in the Masai Mara.

“Under the slight cover of the small bushes, lay a lioness and beside her were three tiny cubs, only a few hours old, judging by their still wet fur,” he said.

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“They were completely helpless, with their eyes tightly shut. Our guide was as amazed as we were, to see such young cubs out in the open.

“In over 20 years of being a safari guide, he had never seen cubs as young as this.”

A British wildlife photographer has captured the rare sight of lion cubs just a few hours old
Tragic – the cubs were killed a few days later by the male in their newly-formed pride

Vince and his companions watched as the lioness cleaned the cubs, with a second lioness nearby as well as a single large male.

“Our guide informed us that this was a newly-formed pride. They had been together for the past two months but what had brought them together nobody knew.”

The group visited the cubs again the next day, when they noticed that the male lion was taking no interest in the cubs. The day after, they heard that the cubs had been killed.

“News had arrived that the male lion had attacked the defenceless cubs during the night,” said Vince. “Two had been killed instantly and the third was missing, unlikely to have survived.

“The lioness battled to save her babies, however the male was much larger and stronger and she was injured for her bravery. It was quite emotional to hear.

“Lions practice infanticide whereby a male new to a pride will kill any cubs as they are not his own. Why he waited for so long or how he knew that he was not their father, nobody knows.”

The pride remained together despite the fight, he said, and in a few weeks the lioness will be ready to mate again, this time with the male lion which will mean the whole pride will work together to protect and raise the cubs.