Overwhelmed Lion Dad Gets Surrounded by All His Females and Cubs at the Same Time!

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Male lions are magnificent creatures. They are apex predators, superbly powerful, and are scared of hardly anything. However, when this lion’s entire family turned up, including at least four females and 10 cubs of varying ages, this poor guy looked completely overwhelmed. He was trying to enjoy a nap in a peaceful spot when the clan arrived. As they jog towards him he gets up and starts kicking at the ground with his hind legs. He is soon surrounded and is getting sniffed at from all directions. At the end of the clip, he looks as if he has already had enough of this particular family gathering!

How Do Female Lions Normally Behave?

Female lions are very social animals and live in groups called prides. These consist of anything between three and 10 adult females plus all of their cubs. Living in a group provides several advantages to the females. When they hunt together they are more successful than when a single lion hunts. They can work together to keep the cubs safe and defend against any predators who target younger lion cubs.

The female membership of the pride is stable and females often synchronize their births. However, there is no clear dominant female who leads the group. The females work as a team for the benefit of the whole pride.

How Do Male Lions Normally Behave?

The male lion membership of the pride is more transient. Male cubs leave their birth pride when they reach sexual maturity. They then need to find a pride of their own. A lion pride may have a single male associated with it or up to seven males may join the pride at one time. Male lions often form coalitions with other male cubs from the same pride. These coalitions can be highly successful in defending their pride from other lions.

The male lions have both territorial and mating rights. No other males are allowed to join the pride and sire cubs. However, more powerful males can overthrow the resident male and take over the pride. Males that have left a pride often become nomadic. On average, a male is associated with a single pride for around six years before they move on.

Males tend to remain aloof from the females and the cubs. The male lion in this clip is not exactly going out of his way to be friendly with his family. The exception to this is when it is time to mate with the females or when there is food available!