Introduction
The lion is a member of the cat family. However, this animal is significantly different because more often than not, it does not display the typical characteristics of the cat family members. One of the least typical traits of the cat family members is sociality. This trait is however one of the most exciting aspects of the life of a lion. In fact, this aspect cannot be overemphasized seeing that most of the other cats are not social at all. The aim of this presentation is to explore this exciting aspect, that is the social behavior and structure of lions, in comprehensive detail and show that sociality is indeed a beneficial aspect of an animal’s life.
Discussion/Body
Unlike other cats which often exhibit solitary characteristics, lions live in large family units known as prides. A pride is comprised of several male lions, female lions and their young ones. The number of females in the pride usually exceeds the number of the males, for example pride may comprise of a dozen females, three males and a couple of cubs. One of the most essential things about any pride’s structure is that all the females in the pride are somehow related: daughters, mothers, cousins, aunts and so on. It is only in very unlikely circumstances that unrelated female’s team up. On the other hand, males join prides even when they are unrelated.
Actually, the pride’s social structure is often based on special or specific roles. The females are the pride’s basis. In any given pride, the lionesses are the main hunters. Apart from hunting they have other roles, for example, they are the cub rearers .The males are charged with the role of protecting the territory of the pride.
The main prey of lions includes zebras, antelopes, buffalo, gazelles and other herbivorous animals. Some of these animals, for example the buffalo have bigger bodies than the lions. Others like antelopes and gazelles are faster than the lion. The lions overcome this obstacle by sticking together and hunting together. By doing this, they are able to exhaust the prey relatively fast and are therefore able to capture and kill it.
When male cubs attain the age of two or three, they leave the pride and try to capture or take over a new pride. Alternatively, some of the adult male lions may become bored with one pride and move on to another in the hope of finding new receptive females. However, even after abandonment by the departed males, the female lions do not just welcome any new male who comes knocking into their pride. Sometimes, they embark on a new recruitment exercise where they mate with several male sets before finally settling on one and welcoming it into their pride. In this case, it is often the males who are in large group or set that usually have the tenacity to win out the new pride. The accepted males then periodically mate with the females in the pride and after a period of six months, cubs are born. These cubs become part of the pride.
Conclusion
As seen above, the lion is the only social member of the cat family. The social trait is very beneficial to the lion’s life since it makes virtually everything easier including hunting. By sticking together, the pride members are able to take care of each other. This quite different to other cat family members where it is often survival for the fittest.
References
Dimond, S. J. (1970). The social behavior of animals. New York: Harper & Row.
Social behavior of lions. (2012, February 12). Retrieved June 20, 2013, from http://www.thebigcats.com/lion/lion_social.htm
Tinbergen, N. (1965). Social behaviour in animals with special reference to vertebrates. London: Methuen.
