Lion 002 - Regal Backlit by the early morning sunshine, this prime male was watching a lioness with two very young cubs. She later carried both cubs to the rocky base of a steep river bank in the Masai Mara, Kenya - Wildlife Reflections

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WildlifeReflections > 002 - Lion 001 - Lioness
Lioness scanning the open plains of the Masai Mara, Kenya in the late afternoon

WildlifeReflections > Lion 002 - Regal
Backlit by the early morning sunshine, this prime male was watching a lioness with two very young cubs. She later carried both cubs to the rocky base of a steep river bank in the Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 003 - I’m the boss!
Lion cubs playing in the rain, Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 004 - Seeing eye to eye
Honing the skills needed in later life, cubs often play with their mother and other older but usually less tolerant members of the pride. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 005 - Lioness at night
Lioness peering through the darkness, Tsavo, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 006 - The circle of life
Acting independently, a pride of seven lions caught all five young warthogs in less than two minutes. The good news …. The adult warthogs escaped to raise another family. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 007 - It’s just not fair . . .
Mum told me to stay here, and not move, while she goes to get dinner. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 008 - I know it’s here somewhere . . .
Lionesses tend to synchronise their cycles, so litters are born at roughly the same time. This has several advantages – pride females are invariably related and will sometimes suckle other cubs if the mother is absent (in so doing a lioness is promoting her own genes by helping to raise relatives), and one female can baby-sit all the young vulnerable cubs when the rest of the pride is hunting. Lions are weaned by the time they are about 9 months old.

WildlifeReflections > Lion 009 - Just a bundle of fluff!!
After a gestation period of 3.5 months, 1 - 4 (typically 3) cubs are born, but only 50% survive the first year. This cub is just a few weeks old (eyes open at about 10 days) and walked with a very wobbly gait. The woolly appearance is typical of baby lions – they start to change to the adult colour at about 3 months, although faint spots may persist throughout life. Young cubs frequently have a blue tint in the eyes, but this disappears within the first three months. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 010 - Short and not so sweet
It has been estimated that lions copulate 3000 times for every one year old cub that survives. The pair usually separate from the pride, estrus typically lasts for about four to six days, and they couple 2-3 times per hour throughout this time without pausing to hunt or eat. This high frequency of mating is because lions, like other members of the cat family, are thought to be induced ovulators, with copulation helping to stimulate ovulation. Immediately after mating the female is momentarily vocal and aggressive, which evokes a similar response from the male, as seen here. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 011 - Cub killer – cruelty or necessity?
When a new male takes over a pride, he will often kill any cubs under a year old. Such infanticide is a vital part of male lion reproductive strategy – mothers of cubs which are killed come into estrus shortly after, thereby enabling the new male to propagate his genes. If the cubs were not killed, he would have to wait a considerable time to breed - females normally produce cubs at intervals of 2+ years – by which time the male’s tenure of the pride, and his chance to leave progeny, may well be over. And contrary to instincts, he would also be helping to raise offspring that were not his own. Tsavo, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 012 - She’s mine!
Male lions often form coalitions, both when they are nomadic (an obvious advantage when hunting) and territorial, where greater strength in numbers helps deter challengers. Disputes over dominance within such coalitions usually only occur when they compete for mating opportunities. Guess what the brief squabble in this image was about?!! The facial expressions and teeth not fully bared demonstrate it was just a spat, over in seconds. Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 013 - Too close ?
Although this male looks very ferocious, he is in fact just yawning and stretching after a long siesta. If this was a defensive/offensive posture, the eyes might be narrower, the pupils smaller, and the ears flatter. Any cat owner can tell the mood of their pet from visual and vocal expressions - lions share many behavioural traits with other felines and these can be readily recognized during time spent with them. Zululand, KZN, South Africa

WildlifeReflections > Lion 014 - Focus on survival
The older a cub becomes, the greater the chance of survival. 50% of all cubs born do not reach one year of age. The most common causes of mortality are starvation, abandonment and predation. Mixed set of cubs following the pride, Masai Mara, Kenya

WildlifeReflections > Lion 015 - Nosy girl (actually a bit older, but it’s always best to underestimate a woman’s real age!)
Lions can be identified from their size and coloration, but this obviously changes over time. Scars can also be helpful in the short term, but lions have remarkable healing abilities. The most accurate way of identifying individuals is from the black marks where the whiskers emerge from the muzzle – the pattern is different on either side of the face and is unique to each lion. Nose pigmentation can also be an aide – young lions have pink noses and this becomes darker with age forming a spotted nose in adults, a patchy nose (larger black spots) in older adults and a black nose in old individuals.

Lion 002 - Regal
Backlit by the early morning sunshine, this prime male was watching a lioness with two very young cubs. She later carried both cubs to the rocky base of a steep river bank in the Masai Mara, Kenya

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Keywords: lion wildlife kenya masai mara tim allenrowlandson

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