Energetic!

Young Lions have a large amount of energy. They play hard and then crash hard.

Their sparring is good training for stalking and attacking behavior for hunting in their adult life. It also readies them or future serious fights with other adult Lions.

Male lions are sexually mature at about 2 years of age and are fully grown at 4. Competition for the ‘Dominant-Male-Job’ is very harsh, and only one out of ten young males ever accomplishes this ultimate goal before being killed. The life expectancy of a male who makes it to full adulthood is ~12 years.

Females usually have their first litter between 2 and 4 years and live up to ~16 years.

Last Friday, the two young females in these pictures enjoyed a sunny day after a lot of rain, playing very hard on the savanna. They and their five siblings were constantly stalking each other and fending off various attacks. It was very exciting to watch, and we stayed for a long time.

The pride we observed is led by a 15-year-old lioness. We refer to her family as “Zanele’s pride”. She has four youngsters who are 24 months old.

The other adult female of the pride – Zanele’s adult daughter – is three and a quarter years old, and her three cubs are now 17 months.

Technical data for all three images: Canon R6 with RF lens f11/800mm | ISO 2500 | 1/2000sec | ev-0.5 | WB 6500K | AV Mode | Drive mode: Continuous fast

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