When a little lion cub was stranded on the side of a cliff, all hope seemed lost to the photographers witnessing it. The cub was crying out, panicked, on the side of the hill... just waiting for his mother or another lion to rescue him. The dropoff was steep and the lions nearby didn't seem like they would be able to make it down to him, even though they were all visibly worried about the little cub.
The cub's mother, three other lionnesses and a male lion all tried to get down to the cub in vain. The hill was much too steep and it was hard for the lions to keep their footing. These lions were unrelated to this cub, but since they were in the same pride they were anxious to help him out. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see how desperately they wanted to save him - and how desperately he needed saved.
After trying over and over to get to the cub safely, the mother lion showed true bravery and leapt down to her cub, sliding as she went. There was nothing that was going to stop mom from getting to her cub!
Although the little cub was obviously very frightened, he didn't move from the spot he was in, letting his mother quickly grab him. It's amazing that this mom was able to safely climb down without dislodging the crying cub's very unstable foothold as she went.
Although the climb was difficult with her cub in her mouth, the momma lion was able to make it back up the hill safely
Once both were back on solid ground safely, the cub was given a nice bath... and probably told that if he wandered off again, he was grounded.
Now this is a real example of how a mother's love can overcome almost anything!