A cat built for company

A pride is a group of related females, their cubs, and a coalition of one to several adult males that holds the territory for a few years before younger males push them out. The females do most of the hunting, often together, and raise cubs communally; the males patrol, roar and fight to keep rivals away. No other wild cat lives this way.

The roar is a territorial broadcast. On a still Serengeti night it carries about five miles, and prides answer each other across the plains. It is also how a lost lion finds the pride again.

The Serengeti

The Serengeti ecosystem of Tanzania and Kenya holds one of the largest lion populations left, several thousand animals following the wildebeest and zebra migration. The Serengeti Lion Project, started in 1966, is the longest-running study of any big cat, and most of what is known about pride life was learned here.

Lions are listed as Vulnerable. Africa has lost roughly half its lions since the mid 1990s to habitat loss, loss of prey and conflict with livestock; the species is now largely confined to protected areas.