These heartbreaking pictures show the moments after a hyena gave birth to two cubs after getting caught in a snare..
A hyena gave birth to two cubs after getting caught in a snare in the Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe
The two cubs were discovered lying metres from their mother by conservationists after they were informed by anti-poaching scouts of a hyena in a trap
The team blindfolded the hyena as they removed her from the snare
Yet despite the mother’s despair, Dr Rosemary Groom, project director at the African Wildlife Conservation Fund, said the hyena had managed to create a shallow den for her cubs underneath where she was trapped.
It is believed the heavily pregnant hyena had a ‘trauma birth’, brought on by the stress of being caught in the trap
Despite her despair, the hyena had managed to create a shallow den for her cubs underneath where she was trapped
The conservation team put the two tiny cubs on to their mother to suckle while they tried to help her from the snare
The team blindfolded the hyena to ensure that removing the snare was less stressful for the animal.
When the team went back the next day the mother and cubs had moved on
Dr Rosemary Groom, project director at the African Wildlife Conservation Fund said: ‘I am confident she would have moved her cubs off to the safety of a den later that evening’