Lions -Panthera Leo
There are 2 prides On Welgevonden Game Reserve, but because the reserve is an enclosed area humans have to intervene to control the population as well as genetics to prevent inbreeding. To read more about Welgevonden's lion management practices click here.
Did You Know?
The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera the other 3 are tigers, leopards and jaguars. They are the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Lions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism – that is, males and females look distinctly different. They are also the only members to have a tufted which is absent at birth, the tuft develops around 5½ months of age and is readily identifiable at 7 months.The mane’s main purpose it to providing an excellent intimidation display which this aids during confrontations with other lions and with the species' chief competitor in Africa; the spotted hyena.
Despite popular belief there can be more than 1 male in a pride, there is often up to 4 males and they are usually brothers. The main role for the males is to protect the pride from intruders especially from other males. If the original male(s) fails the conqueror(s) first plan of action is to kill any existing young cubs, this will make the females go in to oestrus otherwise they would not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature. As many as 80% of the cubs will die before the age of two. So although many people believe the male lion is a lazy and does not contribute to the pride, it is simply untrue.
The other myth to dispel is that males do not hunt. Simply untrue. Though the females does do most of the hunting it’s because quite often the male is nowhere around. He’s out patrolling his territory and could be gone from the pride for several days. Whenever we had the opportunity to see the pride it was very rare to see the males with them. Males also don’t hunt often because their mane is big and cumbersome, prey would be able to spot him easily compared to the sleeker and more agile female, but he has been known to help take down larger prey (elephants, giraffes, buffalo).
Despite popular belief there can be more than 1 male in a pride, there is often up to 4 males and they are usually brothers. The main role for the males is to protect the pride from intruders especially from other males. If the original male(s) fails the conqueror(s) first plan of action is to kill any existing young cubs, this will make the females go in to oestrus otherwise they would not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature. As many as 80% of the cubs will die before the age of two. So although many people believe the male lion is a lazy and does not contribute to the pride, it is simply untrue.
The other myth to dispel is that males do not hunt. Simply untrue. Though the females does do most of the hunting it’s because quite often the male is nowhere around. He’s out patrolling his territory and could be gone from the pride for several days. Whenever we had the opportunity to see the pride it was very rare to see the males with them. Males also don’t hunt often because their mane is big and cumbersome, prey would be able to spot him easily compared to the sleeker and more agile female, but he has been known to help take down larger prey (elephants, giraffes, buffalo).