Revolution among top predators: why do lionesses expel lions from a pride? (8 photos)

An adult lion is truly Africa's most feared predator. But life is incredibly difficult for the king of the savannah. Half of the males die before their first birthday, and 80% do not live to be three years old. Why, even females from their own pride can expose them to the cold!





Are you the king of beasts? We didn't vote for you!

To become an alpha, a lion needs to go through a long and difficult path. As soon as a young male begins to aggressively attack older males, all the females, including his own mother, kick him out of the pride. They do this so violently that attempts to stay home will result in serious injury. A wounded and inexperienced youth will almost certainly not be able to get food for himself.



- Son, go and live separately! - Well, ma, I’m only 30!

But if the young male is healthy and even able to feed himself, his life is still full of dangers. Yes, he is strong, tenacious and powerful, but he is still vulnerable to parasites and diseases. Any hunt is a risk, and packs of hyenas and other ownerless lions roam around. And both lions and lionesses will drive the rogue out of the pride lands. The former will not tolerate a competitor on their territory, and the latter do not need a guy who has not passed the entrance tests.



If you beat Styopka, we’ll kiss! In the meantime, get out of here!

A young lion will spend an average of 3-7 years wandering. If he survives on free bread, he will turn into a dangerous predator, capable of competing for the right to own the pride. And if he wins, then the cat’s good life will begin. True, at the very beginning he can make a fatal mistake.



Yes, adult lions hate other people's children. But they do not care about their souls!

Lions are polyestrous cats. They breed several times a year. Therefore, when a male takes power in a pride, there are always other people’s kittens there. To persuade their mothers to mate, the king kills the offspring of the previous ruler. Of course, the female tries to protect the little blood, but the male is 1.5-2 times heavier, and she has to retreat.



If you touch my Artyomka, I’ll eat you with the bones!

But sometimes invaders manage to anger 3-4 females at once. Then a friendly group of women, united, breaks into their new king on the first day. Such fools have to leave the pride lands in disgrace.



Alone, lionesses are truly unable to resist an adult male. But a whole pride of hunters can easily cope with one arrogant king.

Most lions do not make this mistake, so they remain to rule the pride for some time. Just not for very long. Rarely does a male remain in alpha status for more than a couple of seasons. But even if he remains the leader until old age, the females will throw him off themselves.



Lions die of old age only in zoos.

The male, most often, does not take part in the hunt. He gets involved only when he needs to kill something big: a giraffe, a baby elephant, a buffalo. But regardless of whether he participated in the extraction of food, the king of the pride always eats first, driving away the females and kittens from the carcass.



Even a whole pride of females could not cope with the buffalo. They are simply not large enough to overwhelm such large prey.

But if the females see that their leader has lost his former grip and has begun to eat more than hunt, the lionesses will definitely try to take away his right to taste the prey. And if they succeed, the male will fly out of the pride in a matter of days. The pride should be led by a strong and fertile lion, and the old and sick should die alone. The world of apex predators is cruel not only to them