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Cliffhanger: Can a mama lion save her cub?

A lioness looks around helplessly after her cub fell down a ravine and couldn't make it back up the cliff.Other members of the pride attempt to rescue the cub but stop trying when they realize it is too steep. Only the mother lion is willing to take the risk.Just as the exhausted cub seems about to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her jaws, according to the Daily Ma

A lioness looks around helplessly after her cub fell down a ravine and couldn't make it back up the cliff.

Jean-Francois Lagrot / Sax Rohmer Ltd

Other members of the pride attempt to rescue the cub but stop trying when they realize it is too steep.

 

Jean-Francois Lagrot / Sax Rohmer Ltd

Only the mother lion is willing to take the risk.

Jean-Francois Lagrot / Sax Rohmer Ltd

Just as the exhausted cub seems about to fall, his mother circles beneath him and he is snatched up in her jaws, according to the Daily Mail. She then begins the difficult journey back to the top.

Jean-Francois Lagrot / Sax Rohmer Ltd

These dramatic frames were taken by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois Largot at Kenya's Masai Mara game reserve in August. 

Jean-Francois Lagrot / Sax Rohmer Ltd

Safe and sound, the lioness gives the cub a big welcome-back lick.