Watch The Sighting Here:
In this video, sent to Latest Sightings by Safwanah, a spat breaks out over a kill. The video captures the scene along the S137 near Lower Sabie Camp in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Zebra Kill
As Safwanah’s video begins, we see the grainy image of lions feeding in the partial shade of a bush. Earlier, this small pride had killed a zebra.
Only a mature lioness can be seen, while the silhouettes of other lions are just visible in the shadows to her right.
Lashing Tail
The first inkling that things were about to take a turn was when the lioness lashed her tail, a universal sign of an angry lion.
As she did, she snarled viciously and lashed out with her huge paw. At this point, it is unclear to whom she has directed her sudden aggression.
Retaliation
However, on closer inspection, one can see it was the lion to her immediate right, just visible in the shadows. In response, the second lion snarled and lashed out in return.
The first lion took a blow to the head, but it quickly became clear that the two were evenly matched in attitude.
Not Happy
Her tail still lashing furiously, the first lioness escalated the skirmish by lunging at the other cat and attempting to bite it.
For a moment, peace seemed to return…
Round Two
As the lioness attempted to resume feeding, the other lion suddenly lashed out with a paw. Showing remarkable reflexes, the lioness managed to catch the paw in her mouth.
In response, her attacker rolled onto its back in a classic submissive posture. In the process, it tried to fend off the lioness with a paw.
Pick On Someone Your Own Size
At this point, a surprising revelation emerges: the small size of the paw reveals that it’s just a cub!
Subsequently, the smaller lion rose once more, not giving an inch as it snarled in the larger lion’s face. Once again, it lashed out, this time clipping the other lion on the muzzle.
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De-escalation
In the end, they seem to resolve the disagreement just as quickly as they started it. With that, both lions resume feeding, and the video comes to an end.
A Difficult Youth
For sociable creatures, lions have a surprisingly high rate of infant mortality. According to research statistics, only 20% of cubs born survive into their second year.
Overall, only 12.5% of cubs born will survive to adulthood, with males making up the majority of fatalities.
Males are particularly vulnerable as they reach sexual maturity at around two years of age. At this time, the pride’s dominant males view them as reproductive competitors and force them from the pride.
For those males who refuse to leave their mothers, death is almost assured. These rates increase in both sexes during pride takeovers, when new males evict resident males.
These new males, eager to further their own bloodlines, kill dependent cubs. This causes females to come into oestrus sooner.
Furthermore, although lionesses are generally nurturing, cubs sit at the bottom of the social hierarchy. This is particularly evident when feeding, with many injuries incurred in incidents like the one filmed. This can result in abandonment or starvation when prey is scarce.
Cubs also fall victim to other predators, and are susceptible to various diseases.
With all these challenges, the feisty attitude of the cub in the video is encouraging. For lions, survival of the fittest means exactly that.