Mother's pride: The maternal mutt who has raised 12 LION cubs



They may be the kings of the jungle, but these lion cubs are pussy cats when it comes to their surrogate mother.



Thanks to Beth the crossed mastiff's mutt-erly instincts she has raised a pride of 12 mighty lions.

Not afraid of a bit of rough and tumble with these mini-kings of the jungle, Beth the lion-nanny happily frolics, nurses and acts as a surrogate mother to newly born cubs for the last two years at a South African lion breeding sanctuary.

And her love and care has been a roaring success.



Give me a kiss, mum! The cubs are incredibly fond of their surrogate mother Beth Nap time: The adorable cubs cuddle up to the motherly mastiff, whose love and attention has led to them being successfully freed into the wild

Mutt-erly love: Beth will lick the cubs clean just like any good lion mother would do

Thanks to Beth's hard work five lions have been successfully introduced back into the wild.

Animal farm owner, Theony MacRae, 52 is rightly proud of Beth who helps to raise lions from the family-run centre, called Horseback Africa, near Cullinan in South Africa.

'We got Beth as a puppy from a neighbour,' said Theony.

'To be honest I didn't really want her at first because we had enough animals here already.

'But my husband, Colin insisted and he was right - she soon proved her worth.

'By the age of two her maternal instincts must have kicked in and she started to act like a mother to the lion cubs we keep - without any input from us.

'She is always babysitting and keeps them busy by playing with them, chastises them when their naughty.

'She will lick them and clean them just like any good lion mother would do.'



Play nicely: The lions are trained to develop the survival skills and can then be introduced fully into the wild

Wake up, mum! Two lions raised by Beth have been given new lives in their native South Africa and three have been set free in Zambia

Not afraid to playfight: With the help of Beth the cubs have a great quality of life, before they get older and stronger and are then released

Theony's family raise lions in captivity and train them on the grounds of their farm. Eventually some of the lions will have the survival skills to be introduced fully into the wild. So far two lions raised by Beth have been given new lives in their native South Africa and three have been set free in Zambia.

Scientists have classed the population of lions in South Africa as vulnerable because 90 percent of lion prides are in decline.

'In the wild only about one in ten lion cubs survive past their first year,' said Theony.

'That's the law of the jungle unfortunately - and people are worried about the ability of lions to keep their numbers up.

'So we make a difference by raising cubs in a caring environment where 90 percent survive.

'And with the help of Beth the cubs have a great quality of life up to the age of 12 months.

'After this lions become stronger and more powerful than Beth so we move them on to live together in another part of the farm.

'In many ways the first year of life is the most important.