In 2005 a 12-year-old girl who had been kidnapped was rescued by three unlikely heroes: lions.

The girl was taken from her home in Ethiopia by seven men, who beat her and attempted to force her to marry one of them. In what was largely described by locals as “some kind of miracle,” three lions showed up and chased away the abductors and then stood guard around the girl for half a day until help arrived. Once the police showed up, the lions returned to the forest.

Lions typically would not hesitate to kill a person, but animal experts speculate that the crying girl may have sounded like a lion cub, bringing out the protective instincts of the King of Beasts.

read the news report here