Lion

KINGS AND QUEENS OF THE SAVANNAH

When the sun is shining on the African savannah, you will typically find lions resting in the shade of trees and bushes – just as you often see them here at the zoo. Lions spend a large part of the day sleeping and relaxing.

In addition, the hours of the day are spent strengthening their relationships with each other. Lions maintain their community by rubbing against each other, playing and mutual grooming. Lions live in prides and depend on close cooperation, both when hunting and when caring for their cubs. During a hunt, a female will often stay behind to keep an eye on all the cubs – and she will even let cubs that are not her own suckle with her.

A pride of lions typically consists of 4-6 females, their cubs and one adult male lion. The female cubs stay in the pride, while the male cubs are expelled when they are around 2.5 years old, and the dominant male of the pride begins to perceive them as competitors. The females in a pride are closely bonded to each other, and it is only very rare for strange, adult lionesses to be accepted into an already established pride.

The pride of lions has a strict hierarchy. At the top is the adult male, while the cubs are at the bottom. The hierarchy is important, among other things, when a prey animal is to be eaten: the male lion always eats first, even though it is primarily the females who are responsible for the hunt.

The females hunt together and spread out during the hunt to sneak up on the prey from several sides. When lions hunt in a pride, the probability of killing the prey increases significantly. When the prey is killed, it is either eaten on the spot or moved to the nearest place with a hiding place. A single adult lion can eat up to 40 kg of meat at a time, and lions are therefore dependent on large prey. Hunting typically takes place at dusk or at night, when the lions' formidable night vision comes in handy.

Lions can breed all year round and have an average of three cubs after a gestation period of 3-5 months. When the female is about to give birth, she leaves the pride and does not return until the cubs are about eight weeks old. At birth, the cubs have brown spotted fur and closed eyes. The eyes open after about 11 days, and the spotted fur gradually disappears during the first few years of life. Life as a lion cub is harsh, and it is therefore not unusual for the cubs not to survive.