|
|
Behavior Guide: infanticide 
Lion cubs are vulnerable to predators such as hyenas and leopards but the most significant threat comes from other lions. When a new male coalition takes over a pride they are often confronted by the cubs of the males they defeated. Males have no time to spare for protecting the offspring of their predecessors because their own time with a pride is limited. Females will not mate again until their cubs are at least 18 months of age; therefore, males kill all the young cubs in their new pride in order to bring the females back to reproductive readiness. Older cubs and sub-adults stand a chance, however, because they can often escape from infanticidal males. These cubs are evicted and must fend for themselves although occasionally their mothers will leave with them and remain apart from the pride until the cubs reach independence.
Quicktime video of male lion committing infanticide. Length: 1:05 Females will often fight back when new males attempt to come and kill their cubs. In fact, defending cubs against infanticidal acts by outside males is one of the primary reasons why female lions live in groups. As the following video shows, there is strength in numbers, and groups of females can often defeat infanticidal males and sucessfully protect their cubs.
Quicktime video of female lions attacking an infanticidal male. Length: 1:00
Note: Videos require the Quicktime player which is available for both Windows and Macintosh at the following address:
 |
One of the primary reasons female lions live in groups is to protect their
young against infanticidal males. Males are 1.5 times larger than females
so a female alone is powerless, but females in groups can succeed in
keeping males away from cubs. However, this is generally only a short-term
solution to the problem of strange males. In order to raise their young
females rely on protection from their resident males. Males keep invaders
out of their territories by patrolling, marking and roaring, and they will
also fight if they encounter a strange male within their territory. 
High quality/bandwidth: 5.4Mb