Leader of the Lions. The structure of the lion pack. Pride is a group of lions. Pride structure. Communication

Lions are predatory mammals and live in family groups, the so-called prides. The pride consists of one to three males, several sexually mature females and lion cubs of both sexes. Females hunt for pride, while males hunt for territory.

Lions are the only feline that form social groups, prides.

The basis of the pride is 2–18 lionesses, as a rule, these are close relatives with their own territory (the lioness always inherits the territory of the mother). Pride lionesses generally do not establish hierarchical relationships among themselves. Several lions live with them, among which one is the dominant, he is not always the strongest, but other lions recognize and do not dispute his supremacy. He is the first to eat after a successful hunt, the first to mate with the females during estrus, the first to attack the enemy - the lion - that invaded the territory of the pride. In total, the pride can contain up to 40 animals, but on average about 13.

There are rarely more than three adult males in the pride, because when they grow up, young lions begin to challenge the leader’s leadership. If they do not succeed, they are usually expelled from the pride and either create their own or lead a single life for some time. The ancestors of the lions, like all other cats, were loners. Therefore, despite the fact that lions are social animals, the nature of lion prides is quite unique. The hierarchy within the pride is either weakly expressed or completely absent, which is extremely atypical for pack animals. This feature is expressed in constant conflicts within the pride, and in the fact that, as a rule, not one of the lions, even an adult male, has unquestioned authority. It also follows from this that there is no leader in lion communities. Despite the fact that an adult male is the strongest individual in the pride, he does not make any decisions. When to go hunting, which animal to attack, which territory to go in search of prey - all this is decided by the females, but even they do not act together. On a hunt, as a rule, each lioness chooses a target for herself; at best, they are split into pairs that act together. All this is very unusual for social animals and suggests that the lion pride is not a pack, in our understanding of the word. It is rather a group of strong personalities, gathered together by necessity, but never learned to act as one team.

The pride protects aged and sick lions, for example, if a lioness cannot hunt due to injuries sustained while hunting, then she is allowed to eat. Leo is the only representative of the animal world that females care for.

Young lions, growing up, begin to claim the championship and at the age of 2.5 years are expelled from the pride. Subsequently, they either create their own pride, or for 2–3 years they live alone or in small groups (up to seven lions, usually brothers) without females. It is easier for such a group to capture a pride than a lone lion, and subsequently it is easier to defend their pride: if a pair of males usually keeps the pride within 2.5 years, then a coalition of 3-4 males is more than three years. Young lonely lions are not burdened with feeding cubs and worries about the territory, so they eat better and sooner or later conquer for themselves the territory on which one or even several prides of lionesses are located. The first thing that the male does, capturing the pride, is killing all the cubs. Lionesses, as a rule, are not able to interfere with them, and only lions older than a year have chances for salvation. In a lioness who has lost a lion, after 2-3 weeks estrus (estrus) begins and she will soon give birth to a new leader. Such an infanticide (killing of cubs) is a necessity, since otherwise the new leader would have to wait at least two years, and despite the fact that the leader, as a rule, is replaced every 2–4 years, he would not have time to raise his own cubs .

Pride gives lions the benefits of hunting. In the group, the chance of a successful attack increases, and hunting for larger and stronger animals, such as an adult buffalo, becomes possible. It becomes possible to protect the underfed corpse from spotted hyenas and scavengers. However, the lion has less food than if he hunted alone, since he gets only a small part of the prey. The reason for the formation of the pride may be the need for cooperation when growing lion cubs. Lionesses give birth almost at the same time, which allows them to jointly feed and protect all cubs. In addition, a large pride is able to withstand the territorial claims of other lionesses, can seize their territory and kill lionesses of neighboring prides.

But, apparently, the main task of the pride is the joint protection of the cubs from stray lions and from the lions that captured the pride: joint defense, at least, allows the lion cubs to stand up for older ones.

Pride structure. Communication.

Lions are the only feline that form social groups, prides. The basis of the pride is 2–18 lionesses, as a rule, these are close relatives with their own territory (the lioness always inherits the territory of the mother). Pride lionesses generally do not establish hierarchical relationships among themselves. Several lions live with them, among which one is the dominant, he is not always the strongest, but other lions recognize and do not dispute his supremacy. He is the first to eat after a successful hunt, the first to mate with the females during estrus, the first to attack the enemy - the lion - that invaded the territory of the pride. In total, the pride can contain up to 40 animals, but on average about 13.

Young lions, growing up, begin to claim the championship and at the age of 2.5 years are expelled from the pride. Subsequently, they either create their own pride, or for 2–3 years they live alone or in small groups (up to seven lions, usually brothers) without females. It is easier for such a group to capture a pride than a lone lion, and subsequently it is easier to defend their pride: if a pair of males usually keeps the pride within 2.5 years, then a coalition of 3-4 males is more than three years. Young lonely lions are not burdened with feeding cubs and worries about the territory, so they eat better and sooner or later conquer for themselves the territory on which one or even several prides of lionesses are located. The first thing that the male does, capturing the pride, is killing all the cubs. Lionesses, as a rule, are not able to interfere with them, and only lions older than a year have chances for salvation. In a lioness who has lost a lion, after 2-3 weeks estrus (estrus) begins and she will soon give birth to a new leader. Such an infanticide (killing of cubs) is a necessity, since otherwise the new leader would have had to wait at least two years, and despite the fact that the leader, as a rule, is replaced every 2–4 years, he would not have time to raise his own cubs .

But apparently pride main task - joint protection of the cubs from stray lions and from the lions that captured the pride: joint defense, at least, allows the lion cubs to stand up for protection.

Lions get to know each other well. The greatest contribution to this is made by visual perception. For example, two adult males, already by the state of the opponent’s mane, can draw conclusions about how strong and dangerous they are and decide whether to claim their possessions. Mane is really a very good guide, since mane growth is significantly dependent on testosterone levels. Greeting each other, the lions of one pride rub their faces and are generally very affectionate.

Odor signals are used when a lion (and occasionally lionesses) marks the boundaries of its area with a mixture of urine and the secretion of special glands. This behavior is formed in lions at the age of about two years.

Lions learn to growl even earlier - about a year. In males, the growl is more extended, bass and loud than in females. The lion growls, usually standing, sometimes crouching to the ground. Such acoustic communication serves both to communicate within the pride and to announce to the opponent that the territory is being protected.

Reproduction. Caring for the offspring.

Lions breed year round, but the peak falls on the rainy season. In a non-pregnant female, estrus begins 16 days after the end of the previous one. At this time, the lion begins to care for her. A couple leaves the mating pride for 4–5 days (which at this time occurs on average every 25 minutes), remaining, however, in its hunting territory. Polygamous animals are not only males, but also females, usually mating occurs both with the dominant male and with other lions from the pride. Pride males usually do not fight for females; a lioness leaves with the first one who meets her. On average, every fifth estrus ends in pregnancy.

If the lioness became pregnant, then after 3.5 months, shortly before the birth, she again leaves the pride. She finds a shady, inconspicuous place and offspring are born there - from 1 to 6, on average, three lion cubs. The mother takes care of them for the first time, and after returning to the pride, all the lionesses are equally affectionate with the cubs and do not distinguish between friends and foes. In the pride, cubs are born synchronously, which gives them an advantage: it is known that mutual feeding and collective defense significantly reduce the mortality of cubs. The role of a lion in caring for offspring consists mainly in protecting the pride from stray male lions. He can also make sure that when dividing the prey, the lion cubs get their portion. But females protect from lion predators. Lion cubs at the age of 5–7 months are most at risk. They remain alone for a long time and can become a victim of hyenas and other predators. In addition, sometimes the mother herself attacks the weak lion cubs, who in due time cannot yet follow the pride. Mortality in the first six months of life of a lion reaches 50%.

If the lion cubs survived, their mother will give birth the next time in about two years, but if they all died (usually due to the capture of the pride), then estrus will begin in a very short time after their death.

Newborn lion cubs weigh only 1-2 kg. On the 11th day they open their eyes, and on the 15th they begin to walk. On the skin of little lion cubs (up to 3 months) there are dark spots that then disappear. For the first two months of life, they eat only milk, but at this age they return to the pride with their mother and, in addition to milk (and all lactating lionesses feed them along with their mother), they are gradually accustomed to meat. At the age of 7 months (up to 10) they switch completely to eating meat. Soon they begin to accompany adult lions during the hunt, and from 11 months they can already kill prey on their own. However, independent life is still a long way off: a lion cub has a chance to survive alone, starting at 16 months old, but usually does not leave a pride until two or even four years of age. Young females generally remain in the pride.

Males and females reach puberty on average at 5 years and 4 years, respectively. But even after that they continue to grow in size - usually up to six years.

Lionesses live longer, as old lions are usually driven out by either a pride or another, stronger male. In nature, they live on average 14–16 years (up to 18 years in the Serengeti), and males rarely reach 11 years, but you can also find an older lion (up to 16 years). The average life expectancy of lions in captivity is 13 years, a record of 30.

Enemies and diseases. Value to the person.

The adult lion is practically invulnerable to predators. A spotted hyena can, however, attack lion cubs, young or old lions. The greatest danger to an adult healthy lion is starvation or death from a collision with another lion. Lions compete for food with other large predators - hyenas, cheetahs and leopards - but they usually come out of the battle with them as winners. In this case, the hyenas will yield the disputed prey only to a large male lion, and, on the contrary, even the animal that they killed will be taken away from the lionesses.

The lion population is limited mainly by the number of surviving cubs. The main cause of their death is the infanticide, which is carried out by the males during the capture of the pride. Mortality is also markedly increasing with a lack of prey. In addition, left unattended, they become victims of predators, especially spotted hyenas.

A serious danger to lions is a man. A huge number of lions continues to be destroyed in national parks. In addition to rifle hunting, arrows, traps and poisoned baits are used (since lions willingly eat carrion, this is usually a carcass with poison laid). Some African countries allow lion hunting for food.

But the harm done to lions by man is far from exhausted by direct destruction. As mentioned above, the lion's habitat has declined sharply in historical time, and the main reason for this is the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, which gradually displaced large predators to lands that have not yet been developed by man. Even in Africa, this led to the fact that now lions are preserved almost exclusively in hunting reserves. Although 150 years ago, lions were found all over the continent south of the Sahara, in West Africa their population continues to decline catastrophically, and it seems that soon they will remain only in the eastern and southern parts of the mainland. The problem is complicated by the fact that the various reservations are separated by spaces insurmountable for a lion, and local populations are often too small to support themselves. Subsequently, if the situation does not change, this can lead to an increase in the frequency of genetic anomalies and to a further decrease in the number of lions.

Most of the conflicts between a man and a lion are on the borders of nature reserves, however, relatively simple measures (such as a reliable fence with energized wire) make it possible to prevent the entry of lions into populated areas. However, sometimes lions overcome fences. If this happened to an adult lion having a pride who simply wanted to expand his territory in this way, they are trying to get him back, and he will no longer try to repeat such an experiment. If this is a young lion, already addicted to the killing of cattle, so common in Africa, then he will continue to transgress the borders of the reserve, and they are trying to remove such lions.

But even where lions can sometimes appear near housing, attacks on humans are the rarest exception. As a rule, these are old lions, doomed to starvation in nature, old or wounded animals. Healthy lions, deprived of a normal habitat, can also become cannibals, but usually, upon meeting a person, the lion simply leaves, and in places where there are many tourists, does not even do this, calmly continuing to rest and go about their business.

Another problem is that lions are often carriers of the feline immunodeficiency virus, which also affects domestic cats. For cats, this virus, similar to HIV, is deadly, and apparently not dangerous for lions, but it infects a large part of the lion population, which is why the natural focus of this infection is constantly maintained.

Lions also benefit people: thanks to them, ecotourism is flourishing in many poor countries, bringing substantial incomes.

By the International Union for Conservation of Nature, lions are protected, and the Asian subspecies P. l. persica is listed in the Red Book as being in danger of destruction.

In some reserves in Africa, where the lions became so small that the population could no longer self-renew, even artificial insemination was used to procreate. Attempts are being made to populate undeveloped lions with adult females or whole prides in order to reduce the harmful effects of imbreeding in small groups.

In captivity, lions breed well, which allowed them to create their own population of Asian lions in zoos, which is also used to maintain the number of Asian lions in the wild.

They differ from other representatives of cat lions in that they form prides, peculiar they usually consist of 5-18 lionesses, who are close relatives, lions (their offspring) and several lions, among which there is one leader. Animals do not establish hierarchical relations, they are all equal, with the exception of the dominant male, who enjoys the right to start a meal first, mate with females and attack enemies that enter the territory. The Pride of Lions has its own territory, which protects from other groups and solitary predators.

Toddlers stay with their mothers until they are 2.5 years old, and then they are expelled, because they begin to claim the primacy. But this only applies to remain in the pride, inheriting the territory of the mother. Lone lions sometimes unite in 2-5 individuals, mostly brothers. It is more difficult for them to get food and defend themselves, but they are not burdened with caring for the family, therefore they eat better than predators living in groups. Sooner or later, such coalitions capture the pride; a lion cannot hold the championship for more than 3 years.

A new male immediately kills all other cubs; only those who are more than a year old can be saved. protects the kids, but this is almost useless, because the invaders will spare no one. They do this not from evil, but because otherwise the males will not be able to give birth to their own offspring. A lioness with cubs will be able to become pregnant only after 2 years, but after the killing of cubs, estrus begins after 3 weeks. Since the leaders often change, this gives the male an opportunity to raise his offspring.

Life in the pride of lions goes according to its own laws. There are several reasons why predators come together in groups. Firstly, the chance of catching a large prey increases, together they can hunt buffalo and other strong animals. Secondly, the pride of lions protects babies who are born at about the same time. Females protect absolutely all cubs, feed them and protect them from predators. Thirdly, it is easier for a group to defend its territory and kill other lionesses. But most importantly, the pride of lions is able to repel the attack of stray single males and protect their babies.

Predators use visual perception, odor signals and sounds to communicate. Externally, having examined the opponent, the lion already knows whether it is worth attacking him, or it is better to retreat, and males from one pride behave amiably and rub their faces, greeting each other. Animals mark their territories, therefore, by smell, a stranger must determine that he wandered into a protected area. One-year-old cubs learn to growl, acoustic communication is necessary for communication. With the help of the roar, males can communicate with their relatives or announce to strangers that the territory is occupied, so the animal world is arranged.

Predators (the pride of lions is no exception) expel old individuals, therefore, the main danger for them is hunger and stronger representatives of the Males usually die at the age of 11 years, sometimes live up to 16 years. The life of the females is longer because they are not expelled from the pride. In the wild, they live for about 15 years, and in captivity - 13 years.

Lions have been idolized since ancient times, endowing them with different characteristics. First of all, their strength and ferocity were valued, they were revered as invincible fighters. In the same Ancient Egypt, the image of a lion on flags, emblems and emblems symbolized the power of the pharaohs. It is known that these animals never attack for no reason if there is no threat to their life. However, the king of animals can be aggressive, defending his right to prey, female or territory of the pride.

Prides

Pride is a family group. Lions prefer life in a team and are rarely alone. The size of the group of these predators is not always the same. It ranges from four to forty individuals. Of the entire cat family, only lions live and hunt in groups. A pride of lions usually includes several females with cubs, young males and only one leader. Moreover, the head of the pack is not always the strongest or largest male. But the whole pride of lions recognizes his authority and obeys him. Sometimes the leader expels young males from the group. They can subsequently join another group or create their own pride.

How is the life of the pride of lions?

These animals are very sociable, and often a group can reach a population of forty individuals. The basis of any such team is the lionesses. They grow offspring under the protection of the entire pride. What is noteworthy - lions can suck milk not only from their mother, but also from any other female who has recently given birth to cubs. Lionesses jointly raise offspring and do not divide the cubs into friends and foes.

All members of the pride are very attached to each other and often show tender feelings, which are expressed in licking each other or rubbing their cheeks when they meet. As in any family, it can’t do without small hassles, but they are mainly due to the division of prey.

Power in Prides

Any pride of lions, the photo of which can be seen in this article, has only one leader, to whom all power belongs. This is an adult male that dominates the pack. He owns the right to mate with lionesses first and start eating prey. But the leader has his own responsibilities - to look after the cubs while their mothers are on the hunt, to protect the flock from strangers and any dangers.

A pride of lions usually contains no more than three adult males, as young predators, when they grow up, can begin to challenge the primacy. If they lose, they are expelled from the pride. For some time they lead a lonely life, and then create their own family group or join another pack.

How do lions hunt?

Lions hunt in groups, chasing one chosen victim together. They can develop great speed only at short distances. They prefer to track prey and get as close to it as possible. And mostly females hunt. This is because lionesses are less noticeable than males, more agile, so the likelihood of catching prey increases several times.

Often females surround the herd from different directions and pounce on the nearest animal. Lionesses try to attack with one powerful leap, breaking jaws of the neck vertebrae or soul of the victim. Small animals have enough and one fatal blow with a paw. Females provide food for the entire pride of lions, so still their main prey is large ungulates (buffalo, zebras, antelopes, etc.). Males usually do not take part in hunting, on rare occasions when the victim is very large. Often, lions prefer to beat off from the herd of sick and weak animals or cubs. Such prey is easier to manage and hunting does not take much effort and time.

The mating season in lions

The lion caring for the female is very attentive to her. The mating season begins with estrus at the lioness. Until the female becomes pregnant, this period is repeated every 3 weeks. The formed couple leaves the pride of lions for about five days or a week, leaving in a secluded place. At this time, they are inseparable and are always nearby. Sometimes a “honeymoon” lasts even more than two weeks.

Mating occurs several times a day. Leo can copulate 70 times in 24 hours. The recovery period between mating is an average of twenty minutes. Usually everything happens quietly and quickly, except when the male in ecstasy starts to growl and rubs the lioness by the scruff of the neck. At this time, the lion can sometimes not calculate its bite strength and, at the time of passion, accidentally kill his girlfriend.

Pride territory

The territory in which a group of any animals lives is almost always marked by them. So do the lions. A pride of lions sprayes the borders of its territory with secretions from the anal glands, accompanying this action with a loud-voiced roar. This is done to protect the females of the flock and to legitimize the area on which they will hunt. But, nevertheless, the lions do not very vigilantly patrol the established borders.

If there is not much production in the territory, then the ownership of the pride can be expanded up to 15 km in all directions. Conversely, if food for the flock is enough for a smaller area, then the borders are reduced. Young males can only conquer the pride territory by force. And lionesses will not allow someone else’s female into her flock if she tries to join their group.

Since ancient times, power has been recognized the lion in animal world nature. His images in cave paintings, sculptures, coats of arms and flags testify to strength and power.

In ancient Egypt, man saw the beast as the powerful god of the earth. Until today, he is called the king of beasts or the lion king, and protect from the destruction of one of the largest and most interesting animals on the ground.

Features and habitat

Among cats, only those whose sizes are not inferior to the tsar can enter into competition with a lion. The mass of the beast reaches 200-250 kg, the body of an adult animal is almost 2.5 m in length, to which about a meter of tail with a black hair brush is added. Inside is the “spur” of the terminal vertebrae, an additional weapon of the predator. Large dimensions do not prevent the beast from being agile and fast.

The males are distinguished by a mane that grows from the age of 2 and covers the body from neck to chest. The color of the mane darkens with the age of the animal, this adds even more significance. It is generally accepted that such a dense and elastic woolen shock softens the blows of opponents in fights.

In the photo, a male lion

The length of the mane's hair reaches 40 cm. Its density, shape and color depend on many factors: age, habitat, subspecies, climate, living conditions. In captivity, the mane of lions is always more magnificent, since it does not have to be battered in the thickets or fights.

The production of testosterone has a great influence on the formation of wooly hogs, therefore among lions the status of leader is always with the owner of an outstanding mane. Lionesses are smaller in size, their weight is up to 140 kg, but they are more graceful than partners, as they are the main hunters of the genus. A majestic mane and massive dimensions would prevent tracking down prey.

In the photo a lioness

The head of the beast is large, with an elongated muzzle, large jaws. Fangs up to 8 cm long will allow hunters to attack large animals. The body is muscular, the legs are strong, with the claws on the fingers extended. Short hair on the body can be dyed from whitish-gray to yellow-brown.

Main relatives the lion in nature: jaguar, tiger and, - african animals. Their existence is confirmed by fossil remains, whose age is estimated to be 1 million years.

Once in antiquity, the habitat of lions was much larger than the present: it covered the whole of Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe, the south of present-day Russia, and the north-western part.

Persecution of the beast by humans and a reduction in habitat have become detrimental to the predator. It remained in nature only in sub-Saharan Africa and the Girsky forest of the Indian state.

Of the existing 12 subspecies, six have survived in the present. Among extinct subspecies, the famous Barbary a lionthe largest wild animal from relatives. The weight of the giants exceeded 300 kg, and the body length was over 3 m. The last representative of the species was exterminated in 1922.

White Lion not selected as an independent subspecies animal. The cream color of the fine coat is the result of genetic features. Captive South African breeders grow these to order for trophy purposes.

In the photo there is a white lion

Savannahs are the favorite habitats of lions, but sometimes they move to the forest or places overgrown with shrubs. Animals need large ponds and ungulate mammals - their main objects of hunting.

Character and lifestyle of a lion

Among cat lions, they are distinguished by the formation of a separate family group, or pride. It consists of several adult individuals, as well as their offspring. Young lion cubs after reaching puberty leave their parental pride.

They become loners for the time being, it’s time they don’t find a new pride with an old leader who will give in to the strong rights or remain nomads for the rest of their lives. Pride lives by certain rules to which group members obey. Aliens are expelled, males protect their territory, family ties play a connecting role.

In the photo, the lion pride

The main hunters are the lionesses. Their advantage is maneuverability, flexibility and speed. Success depends on consistency and manifestations of the qualities of a lion. The productivity of hunting an animal in a team is obvious, but the division of prey depends on the male, if he is nearby. It should be noted that lions are aggressive towards each other during food consumption.

Males rarely hunt themselves, but if the victim is caught by them, then the lion feeds alone. Mane increases physical activity and contributes to overheating of the body, so the main role of hunters belongs to females. Each predator in the pride fulfills a specific mission: a prey, a territory guard, and a posterity defender.

On the photo are lionesses on the hunt

The greatest activity of predators appears after sunset. Beautiful night vision contributes to a successful hunt. Later the lionsindulge in rest and care for the offspring. What kind of animal in the circle of relatives can be seen during the day.

The king of animals has practically no enemies due to its large size and strength. But death and injuries overtake animals in the struggle for a leader’s place in the pride. Males are not inferior to rivals in cases of collisions. Sick or injured animals are weakened, become victims of hyenas, buffalos or leopards.

Large predators suffer from small ticks that infect where the animal does not reach the body area with teeth or paws. Eating meat of animals leads to infection with helminths. Diseases cause prides to migrate in order to maintain numbers.

Lion feeding

The diet of predators is mainly cloven-hoofed animals: livestock, antelopes, zebras and others animals of the savannah. a lion will not miss even carrion, small rodents. Despite sharp and long fangs, the predator smothers its victims.

The ability to sneak up inaudibly, and then immediately overtake the victim with jumps, leaves no chance of saving many inhabitants of the savannah. Leo is strong and fast at short distances, therefore, as close as possible to the herds for rapid jumps. This distance is approximately 30 m. Several predators of the same pride attack from different sides at the same time.

Hunting takes place more often at night. One successful outing provides 4-5 pride animals with satiety for a week. Ungulates weighing from 50 to 300 kg become victims. In Africa, it is often wildebeest, zebras, buffalos, in India - deer. Attacks on rhinos or adult giraffes are rare due to the risk of injury.

The choice of victims depends on their presence in the region; in large individuals, the interest of a predator is caused by young animals or injured and weakened individuals. At one time, a lion can eat up to 30 kg of meat, although 7 kg is enough for a male and 5 kg for a female to saturate.

If the prey needs to be preserved, then the lions guard it from the nimble hyenas involved in the flight of vultures over food. Hunting unites the pride: males come to the rescue in case of a large victim, and the offspring observe the actions of adults.

On the first samples of hunting, lion cubs begin to go out at the age of 1 year, and from 2 years old they independently obtain food. Attacks on humans are characteristic of animals that have lost the ability to hunt ungulates.

Reproduction and longevity

The maturity of lionesses comes from 4 years. The birth of offspring is not tied to the seasons, so next to the mother there may be cubs of different ages. Pregnancy lasts up to 110 days, and a brood, as a rule, consists of 3 cubs. After birth, they are completely helpless: small in size, up to 30 cm long and about 1.5 kg in weight, blind. They begin to see after a week, and walk after three weeks.

In the photo lion cubs

From the remote and hidden from the pride birthplace of the babies, the female transfers the offspring to a new rookery. He does this often to protect the young from predators, smelling the accumulated smell. , - Famous lovers of hunting for little lion cubs. The lioness returns to the pride in 6-8 weeks.

If the main male in the pride gave way to a stronger one, then the offspring of the former leader have no chance to survive. The cubs will be destroyed. There are enough threats and risks for the survival of babies, so only 20% of them grow after two years.

In the pride, lion cubs are kept near their mother, other females do not always allow other babies to come to them. But there are times when lion nurseries are formed from cubs under the supervision of one lioness while others hunt.

At the age of 4-5 years, young individuals who left their native pride try to win the place of the old leader in a foreign family. If females support him, he will win. Many weakened lions die in defense of the pride.

The life of predators in nature is up to 15 years, and in captivity significantly increases up to 20-30 years. Staying an animal in a pride prolongs its life, in contrast to exiled individuals and leading a wandering lifestyle. The royal greatness of the beast is revealed in the environment of its pride, which is perhaps why this predator with family values \u200b\u200bis so interested in man.