The story of the Lion
#KeWildlife – Story 10
Angurumapo simba, mcheza nani?
A lion’s roar is so distinct, you’ll know it without thinking twice! Once you hear it, no matter how far or near it sounds, you’ll inevitably hold your breath while you attempt to make sense of the direction from which it came. Whether you decide to wait or make a run for it is completely up to you.
Simba, Panthera Leo or Lion – all are names of one of the most feared animals in the world.
Lions live in prides, and are the only big cats that live this way. A pride, is essentially equivalent to a clan in that it consists of one to three male lions – that act as the alphas of the pack, twelve lionesses – responsible for reproduction and hunting, and the cubs of the pride.
The male lions attain their pride by overthrowing another alpha male that leads a pride. In an interesting game of loyalty, the pack follows their new alpha because of his show of strength. In some cases, the younger male cubs, grow up to overthrow the alpha and kills off all the alpha’s cubs as part of his personal initiation to alpha.
Then there’s the heart of the pride – the lionesses, who are responsible for feeding their prides. They often spend at least 4 hours a day hunting zebras, antelopes and ‘medium-sized’ herbivores. They hunt in packs because most of their prey are faster than they are – and group effort results in greater hunting success. The lionesses of the pride are all related which would probably explain their team work in hunting.
The final group within the pride are the cubs. These young ones do not go hunting until they are at least a year old, and while the female cubs grow into members of the pride, the male cubs grow into potential alphas and thus leave their original pride to go and start another. Once they do, they defend their pride territory by marking their boundaries with urine and chase off animals that dare encroach their self-designated area. Sometimes a roar can be heard and it often means that an alpha lion is scaring away intruders.
Angurumapo samba, mcheza nani?
The least known about these male big cats is that they are absolutely notorious when it comes to hunting. While the lionesses are the true hunters, the males who decide to hunt often steal kills from hyenas and wild dogs. Nonetheless, lions have been acknowledged throughout history for their bravery and strength – The King of the Savannah. However, given that the lionesses are the actual breadwinners of the family, perhaps they should take the title?
