June 2005 | Kefa Zone, Southwestern Ethiopia.

In June 2005, a 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was kidnapped by seven men while walking home from school. Their intention was to force her into marriage. The captors held her in a remote area for approximately seven days, during which she endured repeated physical abuse.

During their movement through woodland near Bita Genet, roughly 350 miles (560 km) southwest of Addis Ababa, the girl’s crying apparently caught the attention of three lions. Instead of attacking, the lions chased off her captors and stood guard beside her—for about half a day—until police and family arrived. They dispersed quietly once help reached the scene.

Local police sergeant Wondimu Wendaju described the scene:

“They stood guard until we found her, and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest.”
He noted that without the lions she likely would have suffered much worse, given that such captives often face rape or severe violence.
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Wildlife expert Stuart Williams, speaking with the Ethiopian government’s rural development ministry, suggested that the girl’s cries may have resembled the whimpering of a lion cub—triggering a protective, rather than predatory, instinct from the lions.