Hello all!
If there's one thing I know about, it's lion behavior (I have a few guides that need making. When your hobby is research, you learn much, about many things. For me it's primarily animal research). SO, this will be a in depth, complete lion behavior guide for all your role-play needs. Written with a lion documentary "roaring" in the background.
SO, let us begin. This guide is currently a work in progress so do tell me what needs improvement, suggestions, or typo corrections.
Pride Hierarchy
Now, you may have seen some posts involving "ranks". Well, sorry folks. Lion prides do not have ranks. They have the huntresses, the lionesses. And they have the lazy, guardians of the territory, the lions.
When it comes to hunting, the lionesses do all the work. For big prey (example, a giraffe, or elephant. Google pictures if you wish) or during desperate times, the males may step in, but under normal circumstances, the lionesses do the hunting.
What does the lazy ol' lion of the pride do then? Well, other than sleep and take the "lion's share" of whatever the lionesses bring down, he protects his pride, and it's territory, from predators, and rival males. A very important note. Unless multiple lions take over a pride together (more on that later), there will only be ONE lion in the pride. All male cubs once they reach sexual maturity (Around two to three years), will be exiled from its birth pride's family by it's father. They are NOT allowed, under any circumstances, to remain in the territory, or with the pride. The male of the pride will not allow that.
Nomadic Life
SO, a young male has reached maturity. For days his father has been giving him aggressive looks, maybe even a snarl or two. Then the day comes. He is chased from the territory by his father roaring one thing, and one thing only. "Leave now, or die". With barely a fuzzy little bit of mane growing over his neck, he is being forced into the dangerous unknown.
If our unfortunate male wasn't so unlucky, he wouldn't have to go alone. If multiple male cubs are born around the same time, and a strong enough bond forms between them through play as youngsters, they will set out together to make (or take) a pride of their own. This greatly increases their odds of surviving to that point. Just as with the pride, strength in numbers. A band of brothers can more easily catch food, and defend themselves than a male that is out on his own. Their numbers also increase their odds of taking over a pride for them themselves. If there is only one lion in a pride, then the bigger your band, the easier it will be to overthrow him.
But why let males have all the fun? Lionesses are nomads too! When a band of brothers leaves the pride, sometimes their sister will tag along (usually because she shares a strong bond with her brothers). She will usually stick with them until she finds a male and creates a new pride with him, or when her brothers take their own pride, she will be chased off by the existing lionesses.
Nomads are a very important part of keeping lion prides healthy. Eventually the lion of the pride will grow old, and weaker. A stronger, younger nomad will come along and take his place. This new big man on campus not only is much more efficient at protecting his ladies, but also restores the prides genetic diversity. The old male could only breed with lionesses that weren't his offspring, otherwise inbreeding would occur (And that would be disastrous). After a while, the offspring greatly outnumber the lionesses he can mate with, putting a dent in the growth of the pride. Then comes the nomads. They can breed with all of the lionesses, restoring the reproduction rate and deepening the gene pool! (Huzzah!)
Hunting
Like precious blood through an animal, hunting is what keeps the pride healthy and alive. The lionesses are responsible for all of the hunting, as we have already covered. Depending on what prey is available in the area, and the size of the pride and the hunting prowess of the lionesses, what meal they dine on most can vary. For a larger pride, going after big game like buffalo, elephants, or giraffe will most likely not only be easier, but essential to keeping the pride well fed (And your ever so helpful(hue hue hue) lion at his best). For the smaller pride, wildebeest, zebra, and the larger horned beasts (Kudu and the like as opposed to the small gazelle) are the most ordered entrees on the menu. A larger pride could and probably will hunt smaller prey, but will need to hunt more often to sustain themselves.
For the nomads, or a pride individual looking for a snack, the menu is smaller (Kiddie menu. Not seven course, 100+ bucks per diner, meals). Warthogs are always an option if you want to put the work into yanking those squealing bags of bacon outta their burrows. The smaller horned beasts (Think gazelle instead of Kudu) are also an option if you're quick and agile. One thing the nomad always has it's eyes peeled for, is newborn, or very young prey. Poor saps don't stand a chance, and they'll go to bed on a full stomach.
One problem that plagues the nomad, and that the lion of the pride defends against, is meal thievery. There is nothing like an easy meal to a hyena. If they smell the blood the air will be full of cackles and hoots in no time, and soon enough his hard earned meal is gone.
The Day to Day Life of the
Pride's Lion
While lionesses are out hunting, you can bet that their king is either lounging in the sun, sleeping with a full belly (Thanks to his ladies), or watching the hunt, patiently waiting to pounce on the kill to get all the good parts of the lionesses' hard earned meal. (They aren't known to be gentlemen). Luckily for him, the lionesses don't keep him around for his manners.
"Well if it ain't for his manners? Then what do they keep him for, Rae!?!" well, why wouldn't you want five hundred pounds of muscle? He's there to protect his grocery shoppers and young, and his prized territory, from cackling food thieves, invading neighbor prides, and nomads after his throne and all its riches. When he's not sleeping, or eating, he's patrolling his territory, sniffin' around to see if someone's been snooping who shouldn't be, and leaving scents of his own as warnings to others to stay out.
But what happens a bit less often than "day to day" is making the next generation. I will not be the one to explain to you how that works, kiddies. All you need to know is that it's done away from the pride, and many, many, times to ensure that there will actually be cubs soon. (If you've ever played the DOS game LION, you know that can be a pain)
The Day to Day Life of the
Lionesses
Since we have a section for hunting, and that's the lioness' primary day to day job, we'll just let you remember the information from that section. Other than hunting, the lionesses have one job. Playing nanny, or mothering their own cubs. In the pride, raising the cubs is a group effort. The "nannies" (All adult lionesses other than the cubs' mother) work together to ensure that the cubs stay out of trouble, and away from harm. The lionesses also train the cubs how to defend themselves, and how to hunt.
Cubs
We've discussed bits and pieces of a cub's life in the other sections, but what about the stages of their life between being born which is done away from the rest of the pride. No community births for a lioness., to leaving their home to start their lives.
After being born (AWAY FROM THE PRIDE), they will start walking around after ten days. During this time, mom stays close by to feed and protect her new babies. She keeps the cubs away from her pride until they are four to six weeks old. At this time they are old enough to meet the family! For the next year, they spend their time playing with each other, and with the other members of their pride. There will usually be a few older cubs too for the new comers to play with!
When they turn a year old, the real work begins. At a year, they are weaned and must learn to hunt. This is an important time in a cub's life, especially the males. If they don't learn to be an efficient hunter with a pride backing him, he'll starve once exiled.
Of course, once the cubs reach maturity at three years, their life is forever changed. Their father exiles them from the only life they've ever known, and now they must fend for themselves. Some have brothers that survived cub-hood, others leave before their father exiles them with some older cubs they have bonded with (who ARE being exiled). Those that leave in a band are more likely to survive without a pride.
At five to six years old, a lion is fully grown. The vast majority of males never live to see themselves at their full potential. Starvation, fights with other lions, and disastrous hunts are some of the many things that can bring a lion down before it reaches it's prime. The lucky few who survive to this point, are either soon to take a pride, or already in one.
A lion's life expectancy is over twenty years. A lot of lionesses can live deep into their teens if they have a pride with good hunting skills. Lions however, usually don't survive to adulthood, let alone into their teens. They usually reign over a pride for a few years, then are overthrown.
What happens to the pride after a new king takes his crown? Well, it's sad really. All existing cubs in the pride are hunted down by the new lion, and killed. It's terribly sad, but for the lion it ensures that the last king's reign is over, and his bloodline is now running the show. When a lioness' cubs are killed, she is brought back into heat sooner, allowing the new ruler to create his own brood of offspring.
Hunting and Fighting
Lions tend to hunt at night, or early in the morning. Lions are opportunistic hunters, and if a good food opportunity presents itself, they don't care what time of day it is. Where you see a cute baby zebra, a lion sees dinner.
The tactic used most often, is the stalking method. Lions aren't very fast compared to their prey. To make up for this, the lion must have the element of surprise. To achieve this, the lion slowly slinks it's way as close to it's prey as it can get. Once she feels like she's within striking distance, she uses a burst of speed to catch the prey off guard. The lioness (or lion) then holds it's esophagus, or nostrils closed so it suffocates, severs a vein so it bleeds out, or just tears in to begin the feast. For bigger animals, multiple lions attack at once, some attacking the legs to bring it to it's knees, and the others on it's back pulling it down. Killing it is done in the same manner as smaller prey.
Another method is to sit and wait in the brush surrounding water. When the unlucky prey comes over for a drink, it's snatched up and dinner is served. A much less energy sapping method of hunting.
And of course, snatching up the weak, old, and very young is what lions do best.
Lions also fight other species, and each other. They use their sharp, curved claws to rip through flesh and hold their rival. Their sharp teeth easily fit through spine vertebrae to sever the spinal cord. When two male lions fight, their thick manes help defend their necks from sharp teeth and claws. Lionesses, while still strong, tend not to engage in fights, they leave that to their lion unless that isn't an option.
Hyenas Vs. Lions.
The lion may be king in Africa, but even her has a rival. The spotted hyena. They eat the same prey, and roam the same territories. When one gets a meal, the other is there to claim it as their own. The two species are in constant competition against each other. The lion may be stronger than the hyena, but hyenas make up for that with numbers. In some parts of Africa, hyenas outnumber lions 3-1.
Lions and hyenas hate each other so much, they will go so far as to murder each others young! Nothing strikes fear into the heart of a lioness like the cackle of a hyena clan closing in on the hiding spot of her cubs.
More updates coming soon, as soon as I think of another section to add!!
