African Lion Sex, Courtship, Mating & Reproduction

How Lions Choose Mates

When it comes to choosing mates, a female lion invites a male to mate by assuming a position called lordosis, where she crouches and raises her back, a position and gesture clearly understood by the male lions.

During this time, the male will stay close to her, following her around and showing little competition from other males unless there’s a clear size difference.

In case there is a bigger lion, the male lions shall fight to assert dominance and mate the pursuing female.

Male Lions and Mating

Male lions have spines on their penises, which cause slight trauma to the female’s vaginal walls during withdrawal.

This stimulates ovulation, which explains why females often bare their teeth during mating. Conception usually occurs on the fourth day of oestrus, with a conception rate of 38% per cycle. Nutrition levels play a role in both fertility and litter size.

Male lions may also kill cubs that are not their own, a behavior that ensures they can sire their own offspring. They recognize family members primarily by scent, which is far more developed than that of humans.

Inbreeding in Lions

In the wild, lion prides are made up of closely related females—mothers, sisters, daughters, and aunts—who generally do not accept unrelated females into the group.

This behavior can create great troubles within the cats in captivity, where females might fight unless they are related. They do not like company of other members.

Inbreeding happens often in lions however, in rare cases, a young male might mate with his mother or sister, especially when there is no escape and no other males present. This rarely happens in the wild, as young males are typically expelled from their pride.

African lion pride sighted in Serengeti National park

African Lion Pregnancy & Cubs

Lions’ pregnancy lasts about 100 to 120 days before the cubs are born. Just before giving birth, a female moves away from the pride and finds a secluded spot for delivery and raising the cubs.

Litter sizes usually range from one to six cubs. In average, a lion litter size is 3. Cubs weigh about 1.65 kg at birth and grow roughly 106 grams per day in the first month when feeding entirely on the lioness’ milk.

Lions breed year-round, but in the wild, females usually mate once every two years, as opposed to captive lions who may breed annually.

Lions newborn cubs are blind and very dependent on the mother. They have a dark-spotted coat that fades as they mature. In fact, if you find a newborn cub in the wild, you may think is a cat.

Cubs start following their mother around at about three months and are weaned by six or seven months. They join the pride’s kills by 11 months but rely on their mothers for survival until around two years old.

Although lionesses nurse cubs outside their own litters, they are not particularly attentive mothers, leaving their cubs alone for hours at a time.

This neglect contributes to a high mortality rate, with up to 86% of cubs dying in some areas like the Serengeti. However, cub survival rates improve once they reach two years of age.

After weaning at around 2 years, they have at least 1 year before reaching sexual maturity at around three or four years.

Female cubs may stay within the pride or leave to join other prides but male cubs are typically expelled around three years of age, becoming nomads until they are ready to take over a pride at around five.

Nomad males often team up in coalitions of two to four, which increases their chances of maintaining a pride, securing food.

When a new group of males takes over a pride, they often kill cubs to bring the females back into heat, allowing the new males to mate with them.

Lionesses may try to protect their cubs, but they are more successful with older cubs, as they’re close to leaving the pride.

Lions in the wild rarely live beyond 8 to 10 years due to dangers from other lions or prey animals, while in captivity they can live up to 25 years.