Altruism

'Among animals. we find surprising cases of altruistic adoption among different species, like the female dog in Buenos Aires that became famous for having saved an abandoned human baby by placing him among her pups. Similarly, in a striking documentary, we see a leopard chase and kill a mother baboon. Before dying, the baboon gives birth. At the sight of the newborn, the stunned leopard hesitates for a second, then changes its attitude: he treats the little baboon gently and, when other predators approach, takes him delicately in his jaws and places him safely on a tree branch. The baby baboon, frightened at first, tries to climb higher, is caught by the leopard, and then exhausted lies motionless between the paws of the leopard, which begins to lick and groom him. The two fall asleep leaning against each other. Its finally the cold of night that takes the life of the baby baboon.'

from Altruism by Matthieu Ricard