Lioness Asks Photographer For Help, He Is Shocked To Find Out Why

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Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube

George was shocked when a lioness approached him from behind. He was in the savanna to shoot some pictures for his documentary. He saw that the lioness wasn't aggresive towards him, it looked like the lioness needed some help. He decided to follow her.

Then he saw it....

Lion in the distance
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube

George couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the lion in the distance. It looked very weird. It's belly was completely swollen. George immediately called the local veterinarian, who didn't know what she encountered. She had never seen anything like this before. When she made an ultrasound she immediately called the police.

Checking the ultrasound
Shutterstock.com/Maxim Gutsal
Source: Shutterstock.com/Maxim Gutsal

When the vet called the police, they told her that they would come her way immediately. This lion needed special help from more than just a vet. This lion needed surgery, as there was obviously something strange going on in its stomach. It might even be a life or death situation....

Police asking questions
Source: Shutterstock.com/Photographee.eu
Source: Shutterstock.com/Photographee.eu

When the police finally arrived, they helped the vet to sedate the now almost lifeless giant lion. But the police did not only help the vet, they also came to the ranger. “Sir, we need you to come with us, it is important”.. George was shell shocked. What did he do wrong?

Incredibly surprised
Shutterstock.com/Photoroyalty
Source: Shutterstock.com/Photoroyalty

George answered questions about himself and the lion. He has been keeping the animal safe as a ranger for multiple years. When he was done with answering all the questions, he heard disbelief from the surgery room. “I can’t believe this!,” said the vet. 

But what did the vet find inside the lion that he was so incredibly surprised by?

Keeping the lion's safe
Source: Shutterstock.com/2021 Photography
Source: Shutterstock.com/2021 Photography

For almost a year now, George has been observing the lions in the area as a ranger. He is tasked to keep the animals safe from any harm. It has not been easy recently, lots of poachers and other shady figures were spotted in the sanctuary...

Guarding the animals
Source: Shutterstock.com/Matej Kastelic
Source: Matej Kastelic

It has been a slow and difficult process for George and the other rangers to keep every animal safe. Due to the lack of manpower, and the constant danger of the savanna. The combination has been very rough for everyone involved

Shady figures
Source: Luisa Puccini

Their employer keeps putting even more pressure on the rangers, but they can't handle the whole situation. Many outsiders have noticed, and taken advantage, of this as well. Which makes everything even more dangerous.

usual route
Source: Shutterstock.com/RujStudio
Source: Shutterstock.com / RujStudio

When George went for his usual route one day he ended up seeing something enormous in the distance. At first he thought he was just overworked and seeing things. But when he came closer his mouth fell open. How could this be?

the encounter
Source: Shutterstock

What George saw scared him a lot, he even jumped back a little. He did not want to approach the lion at first, because he didn't know how it would react. George immediately had to urge to help the animal, there was definitely something very wrong.

The lion
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube

It was the biggest lion George had ever seen, he recognised this lion as well. It was the alpha male of the local lion pack. But the lion did not seem to be his proud self, his belly was completely swollen. It looked like it needed help from George.

calling for backup
Source: Shutterstock.com / paula french
Source: Shutterstock.com / paula french

George started to approach the lion, he was scared a bit, but his love for animals was stronger. He had to figure out what was going on, he couldn't let the lion just go like that. He decided to call for more backup from other rangers.

talking to superior
Shutterstock.com / jgolby
Source: Shutterstock.com / jgolby

When George talked to his superior there was no question about it, action had to be taken immediately. They had to safe the animal from whatever was causing it's belly to swell. George definitely had to act fast.

more rangers arriving
Source: Shutterstock.com/oNabby
Source: Shutterstock.com / oNabby

With more rangers quickly arriving George started to slowly approach the lion. Lion's are proud animals, so he had no idea how it would react to George.Then it turned to George, George heart sank for a minute. Was the lion going to attack him?

get back!
Source: Shutterstock.com / Chris Kruger
Source: Shutterstock.com / Chris Kruger

“Get back!” yelled the other rangers. They warned their George that the lion might act aggressively in this condition as he is trying to defend himself if he feels threatened. So the rangers came up with another solution..

calling the vet
Source: Shutterstock.com / Notto Yeez
Source: Shutterstock.com / Notto Yeez

The rangers decided that they will have to call somebody and try to get a hold of the nearest animal veterinarian. When the call with the vet ended, the ranger that called him reacted in full shock.

Keeping a safe distance
Source: Shutterstock.com / Roger de la Harpe
Source: Shutterstock.com / Roger de la Harpe

The vet says that the the rangers have to get out of the immediate area of the lion, or he will definitely attack them. He asked the rangers to do one thing before he could threat the lion. Sedate it, so they could take a closer look...

sedating the lion
Source: Shutterstock.com / Matthew Willaims-Ellis
Source: Shutterstock.com / Matthew Willaims-Ellis

George made sure he and the rangers secured the area for the vet to safely get close. George took it upon his self to sedate the lion. He had found it, so he would made sure everything would go as smoothly as it can. 

quickly sedated
Source: Shutterstock.com / Sheila Fitzgerald
Source: Shutterstock.com / Sheila Fitzgerald

Luck was on the side of the rangers, the lion was very quickly sedated and did not seem to fight it. Maybe the lion really wanted to be helped, as it did not show any signs of resistance or the will to attack the rangers.

reporting back
Source: Shutterstock.com / Andrzej Kubik
Source: Shutterstock.com / Andrzej Kubik

Now the rangers could clearly see where the bulge of the lion was located on the body. George called back the vet, who was still not there, to report their finding. The rangers are curious about what they had to do next, but then the vets' tone changes immediately after hearing where the bulge is...

the bulge
Source: Shutterstock.com / Matthew Williams-Ellis
Source: Shutterstock.com / Matthew Williams-Ellis

The bulge was located on a very specific place in the body, at the start of the stomach, meaning that it is probably unable to enter the lion's body. But what could be inside this lion?

What to do?
Source: Shutterstock.com / Svetlana Buzmakova
Source: Shutterstock.com / Svetlana Buzmakova

The lion has obviously swallowed something it shouldn’t have and probably required immediate surgery if it was to survive. There was no time to lose. But the rangers didn’t know what to do. So they asked the vet what they should do. Is she here within the crucial time? Or should they bring the lion to her? They hoped it was the first option.

Rush hour
Source: Shutterstock.com/Dmitry Kalinovsky
Source: Shutterstock.com/Dmitry Kalinovsky

But for the vet, to get to the ranger's location was a challenge in itself, because she did not know the exact location of the rangers and the workers. Next to that, it was also rush hour, so she would probably get stuck in traffic. But she had to get there as fast as possible to give the lion the best chance of survival.

Going to the headquarters
Source: Shutterstock.com/marvent
Source: Shutterstock.com/marvent

One of the rangers proposed to pick her up. But that would take too long. But there were still people in the ranger's headquarters who knew the rangers location exactly, and how to get to the location. So the vet decided to visit the headquarters.

One hell of a ride
Source: Shutterstock.com / Dmitry Molchanov
Source: Shutterstock.com / Dmitry Molchanov

After explaining the situation, a manager was willing to help her and they were going to use his all-terrain jeep to traverse the savanna, which is never easy. The vet experiences one hell of a ride.

Hesitating vet
Source: Shutterstock.com/Roquillo Tebar
Source: Shutterstock.com/Roquillo Tebar

The journey takes about 3 hours in total. A journey on which the vet had considered many times if the life of this lion was worth wasting a whole day plus extra on it. Other animals in need might have also needed her help…

slowly waking up
Source: Shutterstock.com / Fernando Pallares
Source: Shutterstock.com / Fernando Pallares

At the site, the rangers were also struggling with the time they had to wait for the vet. Their fear became the truth. The lion's sedative wore out, and he had no intention of staying at his current place. It waited a long enough time and was trying to be on the move again. The rangers did not know what to do next.

Conflict in the group
Source: Shutterstock.com / Terri Butler Photography
Source: Shutterstock.com / Terri Butler Photography

Some rangers wanted to just let it go as that meant they could finally go back home. Why were they caring so much about a lion in the first place? It was just an animal, who had probably eaten something wrong. There was no concensus amongst the group.

sticking to the plan
Source: Shutterstock.com / PeopleImages.com - Yuri A
Source: Shutterstock.com / PeopleImages.com - Yuri A

Others had taken the vet's words to heart and knew that if they let the lion go now it would certainly die. Luckily for the lion and the vet, this group was in the overwhelming majority.

Slowly moving
Source: Shutterstock.com / Pieter-Pieter
Source: Shutterstock.com / Pieter-Pieter

The lion was still moving very slowly, so the rangers were able to block its paths back into the depths of the savanna with their jeeps. They couldn't sedate the animal again, because they used all of their sedatives, the vet has a dose with her. But they had to stall for her.