Lions sit at the top of the African food chain, but they are far from invincible. The biggest killers of lions are other lions, followed by humans, disease, and a short list of large animals capable of overpowering them in the right circumstances. No wild animal routinely hunts lions as prey, yet lion mortality from these combined threats is substantial.
Other Lions Are the Biggest Threat
The most dangerous enemy a lion faces is another lion. Male lions live in coalitions that compete fiercely for control of prides, and when a new coalition displaces the resident males, the incoming males typically kill any young cubs. This behavior, called infanticide, ensures the females come back into breeding condition sooner and that the new males invest only in their own offspring.
Long-term data from the Serengeti illustrate how devastating this is. In stable prides with no leadership change, about 56% of cubs survive to nine months old. When a takeover occurs, that figure drops to just 14%. Cubs under 15 months old suffer massive mortality during these transitions, while older juveniles have a better chance of surviving. Because pride takeovers happen every few years in most populations, infanticide is one of the single largest sources of lion death across Africa.
Adult males also kill each other in territorial fights. Coalitions defend their prides against rivals, and these confrontations can be lethal. Males with smaller coalitions are especially vulnerable. Research in Tanzania’s Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem found that coalitions of just two males living near the edges of protected areas held their prides for less than 12 months before being displaced, compared to longer tenures for larger coalitions deeper inside parks. Eviction often means serious injury or death for the losing males.
Humans Kill More Lions Than Any Other Species
After other lions, people are the leading cause of adult lion mortality. Retaliatory killing, where herders or farmers poison or spear lions that have attacked livestock, is a major driver of population decline across East and Southern Africa. Research in the Tarangire-Manyara ecosystem found that retaliatory killing significantly reduced male coalition sizes and shortened the time those coalitions could hold a pride. That instability then cascades through the population: fewer protective males means more infanticide, fewer surviving cubs, and smaller prides overall.
Trophy hunting, poaching, and snaring add to human-caused deaths. Lions living near the boundaries of protected areas are most exposed. In some regions, human-caused mortality outpaces the population’s ability to replace itself, which is a key reason lion numbers have fallen by roughly half over the past 25 years.
Disease Outbreaks Can Wipe Out a Third of a Population
Lions are vulnerable to several infectious diseases, and outbreaks can kill on a scale that rivals any predator. The most dramatic example is canine distemper virus, or CDV. In 1994, a CDV epidemic swept through the Serengeti lion population and killed roughly a third of the animals. In 2001, a similar outbreak hit the Ngorongoro Crater population and wiped out nearly 40% of those lions in just ten weeks. Twenty-four of the crater’s 61 lions died during that short window.
What made those two outbreaks so deadly, compared to at least five other CDV epidemics that passed through the same populations between 1976 and 2006 without notable deaths, was a co-infection. Climate extremes had increased tick-borne blood parasites in the lions’ prey, and lions that contracted both CDV and heavy parasite loads were far more likely to die. Prides with the highest parasite burdens suffered mortality rates above 67%. The “silent” epidemics, by contrast, produced no measurable increase in deaths, showing that the virus alone wasn’t necessarily fatal.
Large Animals That Can Kill Lions
No animal in Africa actively hunts lions for food, but several species are capable of killing them in confrontations.
- Elephants are the most dangerous. Adult elephants weigh up to six tons and will charge, gore, or trample lions that threaten calves or simply come too close. Lions occasionally attempt to hunt young or weakened elephants, and those hunts can turn fatal for the lion when the herd retaliates.
- Cape buffalo kill more lions than any other prey animal. A buffalo weighs around 900 kilograms and carries thick, fused horns that can impale or crush a lion’s skull. Buffalo herds are known to mob and gore lions, sometimes pursuing them well beyond the point of self-defense. Failed hunts are a common source of fatal injuries for adult lions.
- Nile crocodiles pose a real threat at water crossings and drinking spots. Crocodiles have been documented killing lion cubs, and a large crocodile is physically capable of dragging an adult lion underwater. These encounters are opportunistic rather than routine, but rivers and waterholes are genuine danger zones for lions.
- Hippos are fiercely territorial in water and can bite with enough force to sever a lion in half. Lions almost never target hippos, but accidental encounters near rivers can turn deadly.
- Giraffes deliver powerful kicks that can crack a lion’s skull or ribs. A single well-placed kick from a giraffe’s hind legs generates enough force to kill, and experienced lions treat giraffe hunts with visible caution.
Hyenas as a Competitive Threat
Spotted hyenas don’t prey on healthy adult lions, but the relationship between the two species is intensely hostile. Hyena clans outnumber lion prides in most ecosystems and will gang up on lone lions or small groups, sometimes killing them. Isolated females and young males dispersing from their birth pride are most at risk. Hyenas also kill lion cubs when they find them unguarded, making them a meaningful source of cub mortality alongside infanticide by rival males.
The two species compete directly for the same prey, and this competition turns violent in both directions. Lions kill hyenas frequently and deliberately, sometimes without eating them, which suggests the killing is driven by competition rather than hunger. Hyenas return the favor when numbers are on their side.
Starvation and Injury
Hunting large prey is inherently dangerous, and many lions die from injuries sustained during hunts rather than from encounters with rival predators. A broken jaw, a punctured lung from a buffalo horn, or a shattered leg from a zebra kick can leave a lion unable to hunt, leading to starvation. Old lions that lose their teeth or are expelled from prides face the same fate. In some populations, starvation and hunt-related injuries account for a significant share of natural adult deaths, particularly among males living outside of prides.