Young Lioness Portrait (Panthera leo)
Moremi Game Reserve
Okavango Delta
Botswana
Southern Africa
Happy Caturday!
Mothers can give birth to up to six cubs at a time, but litters of two or three are more common. Just before giving birth, the mother will leave the pride and find a secluded, isolated, safe place.
At 10 days old, lion cubs will open their eyes and very soon after that – between 10 to 15 days old – will start walking. The mother will keep the cubs in isolation, away from pride, for the first four to eight weeks of their lives.
At around three months old the cubs will start to eat meat. Male lions generally play no paternal role when it comes to providing food for the cubs. Baby lions may be referred to as cubs, whelps, or lionets. A “whelp” refers to any young member of a carnivorous species, while “lionet” means “small lion” in Middle French.
Female lions, sisters, live together for life. Their female cubs also stay with the pride, even after they’re grown, but male cubs must venture out on their own once they reach maturity.
Last year the US Fish and Wildlife Services announced that African lions may be facing extinction by the year 2050. The agency proposed listing the lions as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The greatest threats facing lions are habitat loss, loss of prey (largely due to the bushmeat trade), and human-lion conflict, including sport hunting and retaliation kills, in which lions are killed after attacking area livestock.
There are only about 34,000 lions left in Africa, which is about half the number that existed 30 years ago. About 70 percent of these animals live in just 10 regions of the continent, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. In West Africa, fewer than 250 adult lions remain. – Wikipedia
Young Lioness Portrait (Panthera leo)
Moremi Game Reserve
Okavango Delta
Botswana
Southern Africa
Happy Caturday!
Mothers can give birth to up to six cubs at a time, but litters of two or three are more common. Just before giving birth, the mother will leave the pride and find a secluded, isolated, safe place.
At 10 days old, lion cubs will open their eyes and very soon after that – between 10 to 15 days old – will start walking. The mother will keep the cubs in isolation, away from pride, for the first four to eight weeks of their lives.
At around three months old the cubs will start to eat meat. Male lions generally play no paternal role when it comes to providing food for the cubs. Baby lions may be referred to as cubs, whelps, or lionets. A “whelp” refers to any young member of a carnivorous species, while “lionet” means “small lion” in Middle French.
Female lions, sisters, live together for life. Their female cubs also stay with the pride, even after they’re grown, but male cubs must venture out on their own once they reach maturity.
Last year the US Fish and Wildlife Services announced that African lions may be facing extinction by the year 2050. The agency proposed listing the lions as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The greatest threats facing lions are habitat loss, loss of prey (largely due to the bushmeat trade), and human-lion conflict, including sport hunting and retaliation kills, in which lions are killed after attacking area livestock.
There are only about 34,000 lions left in Africa, which is about half the number that existed 30 years ago. About 70 percent of these animals live in just 10 regions of the continent, mostly in southern and eastern Africa. In West Africa, fewer than 250 adult lions remain. – Wikipedia