How Does The Solitary Savanna Lion Survive? (birds)

[Calvert Hall '62]

The science behind the savanna lions' social structure (prides) has been established and explained well. No need to belabor those facts.


But we know that male lions, and, to a lesser extent, females are booted out.


Until they "hook-up" with another pride, how do they hunt without pride teamwork? What do they hunt in the open spaces of the savanna?

[Aredhel]

They are forced to hunt smaller game, such as warthogs and smaller antelope, that don't require multiple lions to successfully pull down. And their lifespan is shorter compared to lions in a pride.

[greatblueheron]

A lonely existence being king.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

The science behind the savanna lions' social structure (prides) has been established and explained well. No need to belabor those facts.


But we know that male lions, and, to a lesser extent, females are booted out.


Until they "hook-up" with another pride, how do they hunt without pride teamwork? What do they hunt in the open spaces of the savanna?

Well, they either learn what they can successfully catch as single hunters or they don't survive. There are always going to be young, old, or less fit prey animals somewhere but they probably have to roam a lot more widely to find them.

[ClaraC]

Hm. This question takes some pondering. Why were they kicked out of the pride?

If you randomly removed an adult member from a successful pride, and dropped him/her off 100 miles away from their pride, my guess is, they'd function quite well and locate enough food to sustain themselves.

An adult member that is kicked out by the pride, might be a completely non functioning member, and might, in fact, starve to death in a matter of weeks because they are incapable of performing and are just a complete drag on the pride.

Interesting question.

[Calvert Hall '62]

Originally Posted by ClaraC

Hm. This question takes some pondering. Why were they kicked out of the pride?

If you randomly removed an adult member from a successful pride, and dropped him/her off 100 miles away from their pride, my guess is, they'd function quite well and locate enough food to sustain themselves.

An adult member that is kicked out by the pride, might be a completely non functioning member, and might, in fact, starve to death in a matter of weeks because they are incapable of performing and are just a complete drag on the pride.

Interesting question.

Well, regarding males, it's simply another male who kicks his ass out and often kills the cubs sired by the fist male.


As to why females are out, I have no idea.

[Zoisite]

Lions are social animals. It's my understanding that most bachelor lions will seek out other bachelors and they form groups of males that will stay together and cooperate in hunting together. Safety and efficiency in numbers sort of thing. There are a lot of other species of social mammals/birds/fish that will do the same thing.

If a lioness ends up on her own and is still healthy and young enough to hunt and to mate I doubt it would take long for bachelors to seek her out and she can pick and choose the strongest of them. All she has to do is call out to them for the males to find her. Once she has produced her first litter of kittens she has instantly become the matriarch of a pride of her own.

I imagine that any solitary lion/lioness that is too old, sick or injured to hunt or function without the aid of other members of its society will die very soon.

.

[Steve McDonald]

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

The science behind the savanna lions' social structure (prides) has been established and explained well. No need to belabor those facts.


But we know that male lions, and, to a lesser extent, females are booted out.


Until they "hook-up" with another pride, how do they hunt without pride teamwork? What do they hunt in the open spaces of the savanna?

Single male lions that are either young or have been expelled from their position in a pride, will sometimes form an alliance with one or two other males, that are in their same situation. Often, these groups of young males will be siblings. They can hunt effectively as a team. Single females could probably approach a pride and be accepted by the males, but might have trouble getting inside the social order the females have for themselves, within the pride. Being a lion is a rough life. They are the only kind of cat that has a social lifestyle.

[Zoisite]

Originally Posted by ClaraC

Hm. This question takes some pondering. Why were they kicked out of the pride?.....

Originally Posted by Calvert Hall '62

Well, regarding males, it's simply another male who kicks his ass out and often kills the cubs sired by the fist male.

As to why females are out, I have no idea.

Sometimes a female will kill the newborn kittens of another female, or she'll badly maul another female's unweaned cubs or juveniles. Out she goes then, because she has become a predatory threat to the safety and numbers of all of the pride's youngsters.

.

[Calvert Hall '62]

As a couple of you have mentioned, sometimes males will hang out together in a spirit of mutual cooperation.


On one of those ethology shows, two males were approached by a female, perhaps hoping to establish a pride, and the males killed her! I'm sure that is not typical.


Going off subject a bit, even though the prevailing view is that the lion is the only "social" cat, there has been footage of two or three male cheetah biological brothers who exist for their mutual benefit. On one savanna hunt, the cheetah stalked an ostrich. The 300 lb. ostrich wasn't the least bit intimidated and instead of running away, started walking to the cheetah, as if to say "bring it on, buddy." Suddenly, the 2nd cheetah who was lying low in the grass, sprang up.


Ostrich changed his tune and started running but the cats easily caught him. Still, even with the two cats, it took quite an effort for them to be successful in their hunt.