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Behavior Guide: living in groups Lions are the only felid that consistently live in groups and for which daily social interactions play an important role. A pride of lions consists of a group of related females, their dependent offspring, and a "coalition" of resident males which joins the pride from elsewhere. Prides include up to 18 adult females but often split into smaller groups depending on female reproductive status. For example, mothers of young cubs pool their offspring into a "crèche" and spend much of their time apart from the rest of the pride.
Young females are usually recruited into their mothers' pride although they occasionally disperse and form new prides. Males, however, always disperse to seek unrelated females with which to reproduce. Male coalitions range in size from 1 to 9 and can contain both related and unrelated individuals, but large coalitions always consist of related males. The success of male coalitions is closely related to coalition size - larger coalitions are more likely to become and stay resident with prides. Pride lions share a strong social bond reinforced by behaviors such as head-rubbing and social grooming. Females direct most of their attention to other females and cubs, while males are most attentive to each other. This stems from the fact that on average males only spend 2 years with a given pride, but they remain bonded with their male companions throughout their lives.
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