Before the lioness and her leopard cub pounced onto the scene, there had been just two other documented instances of interspecies adoption.

But a fuzzy, blue-eyed leopard cub managed to manage to melt another big cat’s lion heart.

Over the course of a 45-day observation period, however, the researchers saw the leopard cub hanging out with its foster family on 29 different days.

I was carrying a leopard cub that scratched me.

The snow leopard cub padded into view and ten million hearts leapt.