Michael Moth and his group got to see a family of playful lions at the MalaMala Game Reserve on 18 April 2024, after following the calls of the mother into a dry riverbed. The lion cubs were exceptionally young, and this was likely one of their first outings from the den.
After the guides had been giving the young lion family their space due to the youth of the cubs, they were treated with a sight of the family having a collective learning experience. With the lioness already in the tree, her playful cubs were trying to answer her calls, but were getting distracted playing among themselves.
Watch the sighting:
The lioness was contact calling her cubs, a soft call rather than a roar, that lets lions find each other if one or more of them has gotten lost. Although they were trying to find her, there were lots of distractions, like the foliage, and each other.
A Different Kind of School
Lion cubs learn through mimicking the behavior of their parents, so having the opportunity to watch her climb a tree and then having the chance to try themselves means they can learn important skills for themselves.
Climbing trees isn’t something you’ll see lions doing every day, as it’s more associated with other big cats like leopards, and this is partly to do with lion cubs losing much of their agility in adulthood.
Climbing Lions
Despite them not being as good at climbing as other cats, it’s still a valuable skill for lions to learn, as well as a good opportunity to have some fun and games. While the cubs will enjoy scrambling along the branches, adult lions might also have the opportunity to steal the food that leopards leave in the trees and secure themselves a valuable meal.
Due to their poor climbing skills, lions prefer trees that are more horizontal, making this the perfect learning tree for the little cubs that struggle to climb all of the way to see their mother. For the cubs though, even the most basic climbing skills are going to need a bit of practice.
Lion King of the Hill
There were several lion cubs doing their best to scramble up and join their mom in the tree, but having so many trying at once resulted in a bit of a gridlock for them. Lionesses are nurturing mothers, but this one seems content to sit and watch them struggle for a little to make sure they learn the lesson.
There was one little lion cub determined to be the king of the hill, and surged ahead of its siblings to reach the branch above them. This little lion must have been a quick learner and will likely go far because of that, being able to steal food from climbing animals, or just enjoy a more enriched life up in the branches of trees.
Although they might not climb trees as often as other cats, there are a lot of potential benefits for climbing lions. Having a higher vantage point might mean seeing more prey, or for a smaller pride it might be safer, for some of them it might even just be a matter of preference.
One thing’s for sure, this little lion is ahead of his siblings, and that’s worth some praise from mom.