
This is the remarkable moment a young lion cub tries to save his companion from being tranquilised by attempting to pull a dart out of her body.

The lioness was struck by the dart at the Ol-Pejeta conservancy in Kenya by conservationists monitoring the movement of the big cats.

After hitting the distressed animal, a nearby lion rushed to the female's aid and wrapped his teeth around the bullet.

He then pulled out the dart as he desperately tried to save the cat, which had been targeted as it was suffering from disease in her paws.

But luckily, the conservationists only wanted to subdue the animal so they could treat a sore wound on her paw, before releasing her back into the wild.

Among the conservationists are a team of highly trained rangers working under the authority of the Kenya Police and supported by the Kenya Wildlife Service & Criminal Justice System.

A lion cub attempts to pull a tranquiliser dart out of a lioness's side after she was hit when being fired at by conservationists in Kenya

Moments earlier the lioness had been targeted with the tranquiliser dart by conservationists wanting to give her treatment for disease

Thinking that the lioness was in danger, the young cub rushed to her aid and desperately tried to pull the dart from her body

A wildlife ranger cautiously approaches the lion after she was hit by a tranquiliser dart so they could give her treatment for a diseased paw

Once she was subdued, vets got to work treating the lioness and also set up a radio collar on her neck so they could track her movements

The lioness had been targeted as the wildlife conservationists knew she was suffering from disease and had a sore on one of her paws

Soon after vets administered her treatment, the lion began to recover from the effects of the tranquiliser and was soon sitting up again