From time immemorial, the lion evoked respect and awe in humans. Its majestic appearance, formidable roar and courage conferred the status of the king of beasts on the lion. Lions are distinguished from other predatory cats by the fact that they live in families called prides.
Lions are the most sociable of predatory cats. They prefer to hunt, eat and rest in groups. The number of the lion's pride can range from four to forty individuals. The family is headed by a leader, but lionesses do the main work. Their tasks are raising offspring and hunting.
The leader marks the boundaries of the territory. Defending his family, he will fight to the death. Lionesses drive away other females who are trying to join the pride. But fights do not happen so often, usually lions, having caught the smell of the marked territory, turn to the side.
Hunting and rest
Hunting together, lionesses kill prey without much difficulty. The favorite delicacy of lions is antelopes, gazelles, zebras, sheep, large horned animals. But in times of famine, the family does not disdain even mice and locusts.
Tracking down prey, lionesses get close to it, hiding in the grass or bushes. Having waited for the right moment, they attack the animal, stunning it with a blow of their paws and biting on the neck. Sick or weakened individuals are most often the target. In addition to hunting independently, lions take prey from others or pick up carrion.
The leader of the pack eats first. If there is a lot of food, other members of the pride are allowed to eat at the same time. Otherwise, they are forced to wait for their turn. Little lion cubs eat last. To avoid being deprived of food, the dominant male follows the meal from start to finish.
Having eaten enough, the lions move into the shade and lazily fall asleep on their backs, spreading their paws and occasionally twitching their tails. To get rid of annoying insects, lions can sit on the branches of trees, climbing higher.
Family feelings
Leos are very friendly to each other. They rub their faces, protect their family members, and let individuals who, due to their health, cannot hunt, to the meal.
Males are attentive to their female friends during courtship. Having chosen a mate for themselves, they, together with the female, leave the pride in a five-day "honeymoon". All this time "lovers" spend together: they walk, eat and sleep without parting.
After three and a half months, the pregnant female leaves for a secluded place and gives birth to offspring. Born blind and helpless, lion cubs are exposed to danger from other predators. The lioness is forced to combine hunting and caring for lion cubs.
At the age of two months, the lion cubs, having gotten a little stronger, can join the pride. In the absence of a mother, they are allowed to feed from another female. The lioness, who is able to hunt again in the flock, has more free time that can be spent on raising and caring for the offspring.
With a change of power in the pride, the new leader kills not only the previous dominant male, but all his offspring. This is due to the desire to have their own cubs, and females busy with raising other people's cubs are not ready for new mating.
