Species name: Lion
Scientific Name: Panthera Leo
Weight: Male: 150-225kg - Female: 110-152kg
Shoulder Height: Male: 1.2m - Female: 1.0m
General Habitat: Lions can be found in most habitats but prefer open savanna with semi-woodland.
Diet: Carnivorous

Lions are the largest living cats in Africa and the second largest in the world. They are the only true social cats and rely on each other to succeed. Most lion prides normally consist of related females and their cubs and their territories will usually be situated within a territory of a coalition of male lions. A coalition of male lions will consist of 2-3 males, but there have been cases of more than 5 male lions in a coalition.

Male lions can have more than one female pride within their territory, depending on how dominant they are. They will not always be seen with the pride as they might be with another pride in their territory or they might be busy patrolling their boundaries, marking their territory, and chasing off any intruding males. This is very important because when new males take over, they will try and kill any juvenile lions within the pride, allowing the females to go back in to oestrous and allowing the new males to mate with them and have their own offspring with them.

A coalition normally forms when young male lions are kicked out of the pride at an age of 3 to 3.5 years old. Brothers and cousins will be kicked out at roughly the same time, just before they are big enough to pose a threat to the territorial males and reduce the risk of interbreeding. Coalitions don’t always consist of related males as they can team up with other young males from other prides. Newly formed coalitions will roam around as nomads, avoiding any contact with big males until they are big and strong enough to take over a territory from other males for themselves.

Being in a coalition or in a pride of lions requires team work and strong bonds between each other to be successful. They achieve this by allogrooming, rubbing heads together, playing with each other, and laying against each other, this can create life long bonds. This is vital especially when fighting with other lions and when hunting.

Lions are very opportunistic hunters and will kill and eat anything from small rodents to big giraffe bulls. There have been cases where lions have killed and eaten rhino and young elephants, but this happens rarely. It all depends on the pride size and dynamics, the bigger the pride, the bigger the prey they can take down. Lions will also scavenge from other predators when the opportunity arises.

Related to the above, Sabi Sabi has one territorial pride of five lions roaming the area without any dominant territorial males at the moment. We have been seeing different coalitions of young male lions coming in and out of the area trying to establish a territory, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the next year regarding lion dynamics. Come visit us at Sabi Sabi Private Game Reserve and experience these Wild African Cats with us.

My Memorable Sighting

My most memorable sighting of lions happened about 2-3 years ago. At that time the resident pride in the area consisted of two males, five females, and a couple of cubs. One afternoon, two of the females and their cubs were found separated from the rest of the pride. Later that same afternoon we found the rest of the pride about 2km away from the two females and their cubs. We parked the vehicle about 25m away from the lions and viewed them as they were lying flat in the middle of an open area. As it got dark the pride started showing signs of getting active by stretching, yawning and grooming themselves. They also started contact calling, trying to relocate the missing pride members. The contact calling started off as a low “uhmm”, but escalated quickly and before we knew it, it felt like the earth was trembling. We had two fully grown male lions and three fully grown female lions roaring with all their might right next to our vehicle. My heart was pounding, and I never felt as alive as what I did in that moment, no one can describe the feeling, it was literally breath-taking! I will never forget this unbelievable experience.

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