5 times animals saved humans – girl guarded by lions to baby snuggled by puppies

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If a pride of lions started to approach you, you'd think it would be only a matter of seconds until it was game over – but one miracle case proved the complete opposite.

The predators showed they could put their animal instincts aside when they sensed a young girl was in danger, having been kidnapped and beaten by men who wanted to force her into marriage.

The freak incident in 2005 saw three lions chase off the 12-year-old girl's captors and then guard her for at least half a day until human help arrived. And, even then, the lions chose not to harm anyone.

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The girl was badly beaten before being found on June 9 by police and relatives on the outskirts of Bita Genet, Ethiopia. She was taken by seven men who wanted to force her to marry one of them, Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said at the time.

"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said. "If the lions had not come to her rescue, then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage.

"Everyone thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people."

Wildlife expert Stuart Williams said the lions may have mistaken the girl's cries for that of a cub, and that that could be the reason they didn't attack her.

The Daily Star has had a look at some of the wildest times predators have prevented people from being seriously hurt…

Boy cradled by hero gorilla

The Daily Star recently reported on a three-year-old boy who was cradled and carried to safety by a mum gorilla after falling into a zoo enclosure – in a miracle that completely baffled animal experts.

Back in 1996 the boy slipped away from his mum and ended up taking a fall into the gorilla enclosure at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, US. The child broke his hand and got a nasty cut to his face from the 20-foot drop.

And with seven territorial gorillas roaming the enclosure, what one would expect to happen next doesn't bare thinking about. But, in a strange turn of events, one mother gorilla Binti Jua – meaning daughter of sunshine – saved the boy.

She went to the boy, scooped him up and held him close to protect him from the other animals – before going to the edge of the enclosure where zookeepers came to the rescue.

Animal experts were blown away by Binti's behaviour and figured her motherly instincts kicked in, especially with her own baby gorilla on her back at the time.

Humpback's life-saving nudge to diver

A marine biologist said she was saved from a shark by a humpback whale that gave her a nudge to the surface back in 2017.

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Nan Hauser, now 69, said she thought she would die during the encounter off Muri Beach in Rarotonga, the Cook Islands, which was also caught on camera and released as part of National Geographic's Sharkfest event.

Hauser can be seen trying to avoid clashing with the 55,000-pound whale but instead of harming her, the beast saved her life.

"I suddenly realised that the shark is coming up just at me right below," she said, recalling how the whale then used the front of its head to nudge her back to her boat.

After clambering to safety, Hauser recalled: "I looked and he [the whale] was right there next to me, protecting me… And I cried."

Abandoned newborn snuggled by pups

An abandoned newborn baby was saved by a female dog and her puppies after they kept her warm in a field overnight back in December 2021.

Locals in the Chattisgarh province of India claimed someone had left the baby there during the night, naked and with her umbilical cord still attached. They added the baby was found by a dog, which cuddled up with the baby all night, along with its puppies.

Speaking about the incident, one anonymous local said: "It's possibly the warmth from puppies and their mother itself who had kept this newborn alive. Usually, the temperature dips at night and it's already December. I must say, it's her sheer luck."

The baby was referred to the Child Line Project after being examined by doctors in a local hospital and was named Akanksha.

Man lost at sea saved by shark

A cop lost in the Pacific Ocean for 15 weeks said a shark guided him to a rescue boat after his brother-in-law died from dehydration.

Mr Toakai Teitoi’s told the Mail in 2012 that two unexpected events led to his rescue – a tropical downpour that provided drinking water and the mad shark encounter.

"Just as I was giving up all hope of being rescued after one boat had passed me by in the distance something very strange happened," he recalled at the time. "I was cowering from the sun under a piece of cloth I had stretched across the front of the boat when I felt a big bump, followed by some scratching.

"I looked over the side and saw a six-foot shark circling my boat, but it was mainly bumping against the hull. It definitely caught my attention because I had been fast asleep. Then, because I was now awake, I looked around me and saw the stern of a ship.

"I couldn’t believe my eyes… If that shark hadn’t nudged me awake the crew of the boat might have thought I wasn’t in trouble and might have carried on sailing past me."

Mr Teitoi recalled his story after being treated for exhaustion and dehydration in Majuro in the Marshall Islands.

Animals
Shark Attacks
Lions
Injuries
Hospital
In the News
Dogs

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