Dogs make great foster parents. And that’s exactly what a German Shepherd did for a pair of lion cubs in a Russian wildlife park. The two cubs had been rejected by their mother, and the dog adopted them as his own. The two cubs were born to their mother, a lioness named Siropa.

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Meanwhile, officials at White Lion Park, located in Vladivostok, Russia, soon became concerned when they realized something was wrong with the first-time mother lioness. The team noticed that Siropa had become “very introverted, reserved and withdrawn.” In addition, her two cubs were also suffering because they were “emaciated and dehydrated.” That’s when the team decided to remove the cubs for their own safety.

The cubs were then handed over to the citizens of Sadra, a German Shepherd who lives in the park. She immediately took in the two lions as if they were her own cubs. It was very emotional:

Wildlife park director Viktor Agafoov shared that Siropa’s behavior with her cubs was not normal. The lioness even seemed to lose control when she was near her own babies. The DailyMail even reported that the lioness bit her own cubs, and Agafoov shared that one of the cubs even had a minor injury.

White Lion Park also collected some video footage of Siropa biting one of her puppies in a post on Instagram:

As for the foster mother, Sapra, Agafoov shared that she is not a cat person at all. However, she was more than happy to be a foster mother to these two wild felines, perhaps because she was in great need of material care after the birth of her own kittens. The park director noted that Sapra first came to the wildlife park after a request was made to the public. A family from the city of Artem loaned her to the wildlife park for a “temporary” period.

Agafoov also shared that Sapra is feeding the cubs without any problems, assuring the public that dog milk is more than acceptable for the two lions, as it has the same nutrition that both lions need to grow properly. The wildlife park staff knows that this adorable family dynamic won’t last forever, but they hope Sapra can continue to care for them for a while longer.

Agafoov acknowledges that Sadra’s raising of two lion cubs was a great surprise, as species rarely raise cubs more than others – especially if they are wild animals. Still, it’s great to see that this mother dog gets along well with the lion cubs.

They really needed a caring mother and it seems they got that in Sadra. I hope the three of them will help to strengthen their bonds.