This is the incredibly rare moment a leopard appeared to adopt a baby impala after it lost its mother at a game reserve.

Oh dear: The big cat charges at the impala and at first everything looks to be going wrong for baby animal

Halt: The leopard stops short of attacking however and instead appears to play with the young animal

The video concludes with the leopard taking a rest alongside the baby as it stands over the predator.

Friends? Later the baby impala approaches the big cat and the animals rub their faces together

Shocked tourists take photographs of the two animals settling down and resting together in the long grass

Since appearing online, viewers have debated whether the leopard has indeed adopted the role of a mother.

Viewers have debated whether the leopard’s intentions were genuine and it was playing the role of a mother

Some people have suggested that the animal was acting in the same way a domestic cat would do with a bird

One viewer wrote: ‘That head bump he does is a cat social greeting,’ suggesting that the predator was not looking upon the impala as a snack.

This is not the first time a predator has taken what should be its prey under its wing while in the wild

The Kruger Sightings page wrote that they do not believe that it ended well for the baby impala