Raising Baby Lions Is Harder Than It Looks
While baby lions grow up to be some of the most powerful predators in their ecosystem, their journey to adulthood is not easy. An
African lion cub is born weak and blind, not opening its eyes for the first week of its life. For six to eight weeks after giving birth, the mother lioness will live in isolation from the rest of her pride. She will nurse her litter and protect the cubs from predators, including other male lions that might kill cubs that are not their own.
Once the cubs are old enough, the mother and her offspring rejoin the pride, and the other
lionesses will help each other care for cubs born around the same time. By the age of three, young male lions will leave the pride to establish their own, but female lions typically stay with the same pride for life.
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Among lions, females do most of the parental care.
Cubs are born weak, blind, and helpless.
Their mother will hunt solo to provide them with food, leaving them in their den.
She moves her cubs from den to den to throw predators off track.
Six to eight weeks after birth, the mother and cubs will re-join the pride.
Once in the mix, cubs will suckle from any female—not just their mother.
It'll be between two and three years before they're grown and ready to mate.
