Yes. Lions are the only members of the cat family that consistently live in groups, called prides.1Animal Behaviour. Group territoriality and the benefits of sociality in the African lion, Panthera leo Almost every other wild cat, from leopards on down, lives and hunts mostly alone. The reason lions band together has less to do with teamwork in the hunt than most people assume, and more to do with holding ground against other lions.
Who Belongs To A Pride
The females in a pride are almost always close relatives.2Nature. A molecular genetic analysis of kinship and cooperation in African lions In about three out of four groups of young females, the daughters stay in their mothers’ pride for life, so a lioness can spend her whole existence beside her mother, sisters, aunts and grandmother.3Animal Behaviour. Female matrilines and male partnerships: long-term social dynamics of African lions The rest leave at about 2 years old and start a new pride, usually made up of sisters and cousins of the same age.4Animal Behaviour. Female matrilines and male partnerships: long-term social dynamics of African lions That means nearly every adult female, 1,003 of 1,011 in one long-running population, lives with her mother’s side of the family.5Animal Behaviour. Female matrilines and male partnerships: long-term social dynamics of African lions
The lions that mate with each other are usually not related.6Nature. A molecular genetic analysis of kinship and cooperation in African lions The resident males came in from elsewhere, while the females stayed home. Each pride is also its own genetic family line, distinct from its neighbours.7Journal of Evolutionary Biology. Genetic structure of lions (<i>Panthera leo</i> L.) in the Selous Game Reserve: implications for the evolution of sociality
Lion societies split up and regroup constantly.8PubMed. Sex-specific social aging in wild African lions On any given day, pride members may be scattered across their territory in small subgroups. Relationships among the females are equal, without a strict pecking order.9PubMed. Egalitarianism in female African lions10PubMed. Sex-specific social aging in wild African lions
That changes what you see on a safari. Three lionesses resting in the grass don’t mean the pride has only three members. Others may be a few kilometres away, and members can drift apart for days, then rejoin and greet each other warmly. A typical pride has several adult females, their cubs and young, and one or more adult males. The males often spend time away from the females, patrolling the edges of the territory.
This also undoes the popular picture of a male “king” ruling the pride. The females are the permanent heart of the group, and males are temporary residents who arrive and are later pushed out.
How Male Coalitions Work
Male lions form teams, often called coalitions, that compete against other coalitions for control of a group of females.11Nature. Cooperation and competition within coalitions of male lions: kin selection or game theory? The males in a coalition can be close relatives or complete strangers.12Nature. A molecular genetic analysis of kinship and cooperation in African lions Unrelated partners turn out to be much more common than was long assumed.13Nature. Cooperation and competition within coalitions of male lions: kin selection or game theory? Partners still compete with each other over females ready to mate, whether or not they are related.14Nature. Cooperation and competition within coalitions of male lions: kin selection or game theory? Many teams are brothers raised together; others form between males that met as wanderers.
For an unrelated male, joining a team makes sense. A lone male has little chance of taking or holding a pride against a group, so any partner beats going it alone, even one who is not a brother. The trade-off is sharing mating chances with a rival inside the team.
Other lions do it differently. African male coalitions cooperate without forming a strict ranking among themselves.15PubMed Central. Selfish partners: resource partitioning in male coalitions of Asiatic lions Asiatic lions in India’s forests, with smaller prey and fewer mating chances at once, form clear rankings within male coalitions.16PubMed Central. Selfish partners: resource partitioning in male coalitions of Asiatic lions A lion’s habitat, in other words, shapes how its males get along.
Do Lions Really Hunt As A Team
In the Serengeti, a single lioness succeeds in about 15% of hunts and a pair in about 25%.17PubMed Central. Fission‐Fusion Group Dynamics and Cooperative Hunting Stabilise Social Carnivore Populations Groups of 3 to 6 lions do little, if any, better than a pair.18PubMed Central. Fission‐Fusion Group Dynamics and Cooperative Hunting Stabilise Social Carnivore Populations Most of the time, then, Serengeti lions are not truly hunting cooperatively.19PubMed Central. Fission‐Fusion Group Dynamics and Cooperative Hunting Stabilise Social Carnivore Populations
The jump from one lioness to two is the big gain; after that, each extra lion barely moves the odds. These figures also come from open grassland, so they describe one habitat, not every lion everywhere.
A bigger group can even mean less food each. Every extra lion at a kill takes a share of the meat, and if success barely rises, each lion ends up eating less. That is why hunting alone cannot explain why lions live in groups.
In dry country, teamwork pays. In semi-arid areas, capture success rises with group size and is higher when lions coordinate.20Canadian Journal of Zoology. Foraging dynamics of lions in a semi-arid environment In the dry season there, coordinated hunting becomes essential, and lionesses most often hunt in pairs, which gets them the most food per day.21Canadian Journal of Zoology. Foraging dynamics of lions in a semi-arid environment In Namibia’s Etosha park, hunts succeed more often when each lioness takes her usual position, some on the wings and some in the centre.22Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. Cooperative hunting in lions: the role of the individual
In practice, some lionesses circle wide to the sides of a herd while others wait in the middle. Prey fleeing the flankers can run straight toward the waiting lions. Individuals tend to repeat the same role from hunt to hunt. Lions also gather in larger subgroups when big prey is around, since bringing it down takes more cooperation.23Journal of Mammalogy. The influence of social and environmental factors on organization of African lion (Panthera leo) prides in the Okavango Delta
Raising Cubs Together
Lionesses with cubs form a nursery group and stay close together for about a year and a half before breeding again.24Scientific American. Divided We Fall: Cooperation among Lions Mothers lead cubs to nearby kills, but feed them milk after eating at distant ones.25Scientific American. Divided We Fall: Cooperation among Lions In nearly every nursery group, every cub is allowed to nurse from every mother.26Scientific American. Divided We Fall: Cooperation among Lions Having several mothers together also means more adults to guard the cubs from danger.
The sharing has limits. Each lioness acts as a free agent and joins in shared care only when she has cubs of her own.27PubMed. Egalitarianism in female African lions
A leopard mother, by contrast, raises her cubs completely alone. She must leave them hidden and unguarded while she hunts. Lion cubs are rarely left with no adult around.
Why Lions Became Social
Outnumbering neighbours in fights over territory is a main benefit of group living for lions.28Animal Behaviour. Group territoriality and the benefits of sociality in the African lion, Panthera leo It may have been a key reason lions became social in the first place.29Animal Behaviour. Group territoriality and the benefits of sociality in the African lion, Panthera leo
Lions also seem to count their rivals. Lionesses hearing three strangers roaring in their territory are less likely to approach than when they hear one.30Animal Behaviour. Roaring and numerical assessment in contests between groups of female lions, Panthera leo When they do approach a larger group, they move more cautiously.31Animal Behaviour. Roaring and numerical assessment in contests between groups of female lions, Panthera leo They weigh how many of their own companions are present before deciding, and when some pride members are missing, they roar to call them in.32Animal Behaviour. Roaring and numerical assessment in contests between groups of female lions, Panthera leo Hyenas and wolves can likewise judge how many rivals are calling and respond to the odds.33PubMed Central. Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores Backing off from a bigger group matters because clashes between groups can injure or kill lions.
When New Males Take Over
When new males take over a pride, many cubs die despite the mothers’ efforts to protect them.34The American Naturalist. Adaptations of Female Lions to Infanticide by Incoming Males Incoming males kill or drive out the young sired by the previous males, so the females’ dependent young either die or are evicted at the takeover.35Animal Behaviour. Male takeovers and female reproductive parameters: A simulation of oestrous synchrony in lions (Panthera leo)
The reason is simple for the males. A mother with young cubs does not breed again for a long time, and losing her cubs brings her back into breeding condition sooner. Males hold a pride only for a limited time, so speed matters to them.
The females respond in a surprising way. After a takeover, females that stay are less fertile for the first few months, but they become more sexually active, starting matings and seeking more partners.36The American Naturalist. Adaptations of Female Lions to Infanticide by Incoming Males Because all lose their young at once, the females come into heat together.37Animal Behaviour. Male takeovers and female reproductive parameters: A simulation of oestrous synchrony in lions (Panthera leo) Their next cubs are born at about the same time, which suits the nursery group.
This behaviour may protect future cubs. Low fertility at first means less effort spent before the new males prove they can stay. Mating with several partners may make the males less sure whose cubs are whose. And cubs born together grow up as a group of same-age companions.
How Young Lions Leave Home
In South Africa’s Kruger park, males do most of the dispersing and rarely settle within 25 km of home.38PubMed Central. Genetic insights into dispersal distance and disperser fitness of African lions (Panthera leo) from the latitudinal extremes of the Kruger National Park, South Africa Most breeding females there settle within about 20 km of the pride they were born in.39PubMed Central. Genetic insights into dispersal distance and disperser fitness of African lions (Panthera leo) from the latitudinal extremes of the Kruger National Park, South Africa On open plains, young males often travel more than 200 km and wander without a territory for long stretches.40Journal of Zoology. Reduced dispersal and opportunistic territory acquisition in male lions (Panthera leo) In denser bush in one reserve, though, 80% of young male teams stayed near home and many later took territories close by.41Journal of Zoology. Reduced dispersal and opportunistic territory acquisition in male lions (Panthera leo)
The wandering years begin when young males are pushed out around the time they mature. They roam as nomads, often with brothers or cousins, scavenging and hunting on other lions’ land while avoiding resident males. They try to take a pride once they are big and strong enough.
Males leaving and females staying keeps mates from being close relatives, which explains why mating pairs are usually unrelated. New daughter prides often settle beside their mother’s pride.
How Lions Keep Their Bonds
Head rubbing between lions serves mainly to build and maintain bonds.42PubMed Central. Head Rubbing and Licking Reinforce Social Bonds in a Group of Captive African Lions, Panthera leo It is returned in kind, and lions closer in age rub heads more.43PubMed Central. Head Rubbing and Licking Reinforce Social Bonds in a Group of Captive African Lions, Panthera leo Licking is done mostly by females and is returned between females, and closer relatives lick each other more.44PubMed Central. Head Rubbing and Licking Reinforce Social Bonds in a Group of Captive African Lions, Panthera leo These patterns come from a group in captivity.
When lions rejoin after time apart, you’ll see them rub heads and bodies. A greeting may include low moans and tails wrapping over each other. Lionesses groom each other’s faces, often after a meal.
The Costs Of Group Living
Occasional contacts between distant prides link the whole population, leaving it open to epidemics even without nomads.45PubMed Central. Disease transmission in territorial populations: the small-world network of Serengeti lions Canine distemper spread widely across Serengeti prides, helped by infections passed from other species.46PubMed. Cross-species transmission and evolutionary dynamics of canine distemper virus during a spillover in African lions of Serengeti National Park
Hunting can also unravel lion society. Heavy, unselective trophy hunting in one South African reserve left it with no prides at all from 2000 to 2003.47Oryx. The effect of alternative forms of hunting on the social organization of two small populations of lions Panthera leo in southern Africa Prides began forming again after hunting became more selective in 2004.48Oryx. The effect of alternative forms of hunting on the social organization of two small populations of lions Panthera leo in southern Africa In flood years in Botswana’s Okavango, prides shrank and bred less, limited by space more than food.49Journal of Mammalogy. The influence of social and environmental factors on organization of African lion (Panthera leo) prides in the Okavango Delta
Killing one male can harm many lions. Removing resident males invites a takeover by a new coalition, and a takeover means many cubs die. The loss spreads well beyond the animal shot.