What Is a Group of Lions Called? How Lion Prides Work

Who belongs to a pride?

The heart of every pride is a group of related females: mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts and cousins. Most lionesses stay in the pride where they were born for their whole lives, and the females do not accept unrelated outside females. Depending on prey and habitat, a pride usually has somewhere between two and a dozen adult lionesses.

Alongside them live their cubs of different ages and one or more adult males, usually one to four. These resident males are not related to the lionesses; they arrived from elsewhere and won their place by taking over the pride. The lion is unusual among cats in that both sexes live together all year.

Prides are often split into smaller groups, called subgroups, that spread out across the territory to hunt, rest and raise cubs. The whole pride may only come together now and then, staying in touch through roaring; see Why do lions roar?.

What is a group of male lions called?

Male lions that live and travel together are called a coalition. Coalitions are usually made up of brothers and cousins that left their birth pride together, though unrelated nomads sometimes team up. Most coalitions have two to four males, and a few larger ones of five or six have become famous in parks such as South Africa’s Sabi Sand.

Coalitions matter because a single male rarely holds a pride for long. Larger coalitions can take over more prides, keep them longer and father more cubs. Within bigger coalitions, one male often dominates and mates more than the others, but all of them gain by defending the group.

How pride takeovers work

Young males leave or are driven out of their birth pride at about two to three years old. They then live as nomads, wandering widely and often in small groups, until they are strong enough to challenge resident males. Takeovers usually happen when males are about four to five years old.

A takeover can involve fierce fights. Once the new coalition has won, its males often kill young cubs fathered by the previous males. This is called infanticide. It is grim, but it brings the lionesses back into breeding condition sooner, so the new males can father their own cubs during the few years they hold the pride. Lionesses sometimes band together to defend their cubs, and mothers with older cubs may leave for a while to protect them.

Resident males often keep a pride for only two to four years before younger rivals displace them. This turnover is a major reason why male lions live shorter lives than females.

Raising cubs in a creche

Lionesses in a pride often give birth around the same time. After hiding their newborn cubs in a den for six to eight weeks, mothers bring them to join the rest of the pride. The cubs of several females are then raised together in a group known as a creche.

In the creche, cubs may suckle from any nursing lioness, not only their own mother, and the mothers take turns guarding the cubs while others hunt. Cubs born at the same time grow at a similar rate, so older cubs do not outcompete younger ones. Cubs are weaned at six to seven months and begin joining hunts at about a year old.

Nomads: lions without a pride

Not every lion lives in a pride. Nomads are lions that wander over large areas without a fixed territory, alone or in pairs. Most nomads are young males waiting for a chance to take over a pride, or older males that have lost theirs. Some females also become nomads, for example when a pride grows too large and young females are pushed out.

Lions can switch between lifestyles: a nomad can become a resident and a resident can become a nomad. Meetings between nomads and pride members are usually hostile.

Why do lions live in groups?

Lions are the only cats that live in large, permanent family groups, and scientists have long asked why. The traditional answer was cooperative hunting, but research suggests hunting together is not the main reason, because group members often get less food each.

The stronger reasons seem to be:

• Defending territory. Prime areas near rivers, with water, prey and cover, are worth fighting for, and bigger prides hold better territories.
• Protecting cubs. Groups of lionesses can resist infanticidal males better than a lone mother.
• Guarding kills. A large carcass is hard for a single lion to defend against spotted hyenas and other lions.

Pride territories vary with prey supply, from roughly 20 km² (8 sq mi) in rich areas to several hundred square kilometers in dry country. The open savanna, with herds of large prey concentrated near water, may be what made pride life possible.