The fast, furious, and brutally short life of an African male lion
But when one of the most tracked male lions in Kenya’s famous Masaai Mara was killed on 24 July 2023 the world took notice.
- But when one of the most tracked male lions in Kenya’s famous Masaai Mara was killed on 24 July 2023 the world took notice.
- Known as Jesse, he was killed during a fight with a coalition of three male lions from a rival pride, drawing attention to the brutally risky and dangerous lives of male lions.
- In the public imagination, male lions are better known by their popularised image as kings of the jungle.
- One in two male lions die in the first year of life.
- From the moment a male lion is born it faces a gauntlet of challenges – from snakebite and hungry hyenas to infanticide at the hands of other male lions.
The trials of a young lion
- A young male lion’s biggest threat is his exposure to other male lions that aren’t their father or uncle.
- This involves incoming males seeking out and killing the cubs of other males or driving young males away, and attempting to take over prides.
- Killing cubs accelerates the onset of oestrus in pride females and so is likely to increase the reproductive success of incoming males.
- Most lions that get pushed out of their pride when very young don’t survive.
Three laws of the wild
- These are the three tenets most male animals live and die by in the animal kingdom and this could not be truer for male lions.
- When male lions are in the prime of their lives somewhere between 5 and 9 years of age they will attempt to have as many cubs as they can.
- And they will do their best to protect and guard over as many prides as possible.
For conservation: look to the lionesses
- When it comes to the conservation of the lion species it is important to look to the lionesses.
- They are the sentinels of a populations health, specifically the number of animals in a group, and more importantly the ratio of lionesses to lions.
- The story of Jesse highlights how, in spite of their status as king of the beasts, lions are vulnerable.