A tasty morsel—left uneaten

Incredibly, this killer leopard carried this one-day-old baboon high up a tree to safety—out of reach of a pack of hyenas below.
The camera crew who took this photo [in the original printed article] recounted how Legadema—as they’d named her—cuddled the newborn to keep it warm through the long, African night.1
‘It was as if nature had turned on its head completely,’ said one of the film-makers, Dereck Joubert. He explained how baboons are a major food source for leopards—Legadema herself had just killed the baby baboon’s mother. Joubert related that when the newly-orphaned baboon called out, ‘we thought we were going to hear a major crunch and the leopard smacking its lips’. Instead, Legadema gently picked up the infant by the scruff of its neck, and climbed the tree.
Despite the leopard’s efforts, by morning the tiny baboon was dead. ‘We think it was simply too small to survive the night without its natural mother and the sustenance she could provide,’ said Joubert, adding that when Legadema realised the baby had died, she moved on.
Such behaviour, from an evolutionary perspective, makes little sense—even with an overly-active maternal instinct, surely the leopard would not have left such a tasty morsel uneaten once all hope of its reviving had passed?
From the perspective of biblical history, however, this and other evolution-defying examples2,3,4 of suppressed carnivory are a beautiful echo of a pre-Fall world without death or pain, and a reminder of the biblical prophecy of such a time to come (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25).
Related Articles
Further Reading
References
- Brennan, Z., A leopard changes its spots … and saves a baby baboon, The Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 17 December 2006, p. 53.
- Echoes of Eden—Instead of eating baby antelopes, this lion wants to love and protect them, Creation 24(4):14–15, 2002; <creation.com/oryx>.
- Tigers and pigs … together?, Creation 27(3):28–29, 2005; <creation.com/tigerpig>.
- The leopard’s friend, Creation 28(1):10, 2005; <creation.com/leopardfriend>.
Readers’ comments
Hmm, "complex beings doing complex things". Speaking of complex things, did you know that a jumbo jet is made up of over 5 million non-flying parts? No-one would say those pieces came together by accident, to form a cohesive whole entity that can fly. They would credit the designer(s).
Similarly, did you know that a single cell is composed of billions of non-living parts? Yet the whole is alive. How can that be, when we know that only life can give rise to life?
Here's a key statement from the Apostle John:
Life from life. Incidentally, congratulations alpha omega on being such a creative storyteller. I wonder where you got such creative abilities? Oh yes, I remember. You are a descendant of the first man Adam, created in the image of our Creator. (Genesis 1:27) If only you would give credit to your Creator, the real "the Alpha and the Omega" (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13), rather than using your creative abilities to actively try to discredit Him. But in the end you only discredit yourself. Poor xxxx you. (Psalm 14:1, 53:1) Why not try Isaiah 55:6-7 instead? That's what this leopard article, and all our other articles, are really about. (Jude 1:22-23)
Thanks again for your wonderful website. May God bless you all.
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