Tender bonds of loving that bind us all on Mother’s Day... including the animals
HEART-warming pictures from the animal kingdom are a timely Mother’s Day reminder of the bond between a mum and her child.
Captured in South Africa and Namibia by British photographers Ann and Steve Toon, a baby hippo mirrors her mother’s jaw-stretching yawn and a cheetah licks her cub’s face clean after a long hot day in the bush.
Meanwhile, an elephant keeps an eye on her calf to make sure he does not get stuck in mud at a watering hole.
Ann, 55, from Northumberland, said she particularly enjoyed watching tender moments between a lioness and her cub.
The lioness returned from a hunt making low contact calls to be greeted by high-pitched cries from behind a bush.
It was lovely to see a tiny cub delighted to be reunited with his mum
Ann said: “We watched, enchanted, as the lioness greeted the cub, grooming it and allowing it to suckle.
“The cub was no more than a few weeks old. Two jackals wandered past and were chased away.
“It was lovely to see a tiny cub delighted to be reunited with his mum.”