Sink or swim! Brave cubs cross dangerous river under the watchful gaze of lioness mum

These are the heart-warming pictures that captured the moment Jicho the lioness helped her two cubs across a river and escape a life-threatening buffalo stampede.

After seeing the herd, Jicho the lioness leapt across the stream onto the safety of an island but neither of her cubs had enough strength to climb up out of the water.

The moment was captured by photography duo Laurent Renaud and Dominique Hauton in the Masai Mara region of Kenya.

They watched as the cubs struggled across the muddy water and barely had the strength to reach the other side of the stream.

Once they had reached the other side, neither cub could manage the climb up onto the island where their mother was standing.

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At one point, their situation looked bleak with the two cubs struggling to gain any foothold on the embankment and the buffalo herd fast approaching.

Jicho had to growl instructions and encouragement to her crying young and eventually, after she leant down to help them up, the two cubs made their way up to safety.