Pound Pup Legacy

I was watching a show this morning with my kids about lions and their cubs, and it helped explain how short childhood is for animals (and not for heathens). The show inspired me to find a piece for PPL, featuring animals and how they work in nature to nurture their own, towards maturation... the way we are all born to have and keep for as long as we need to grow strong enough to make it in the world on our own.

It's a lion's life - a mother lion and her kitten hunt and play

Ranger Rick,
April, 1997  by Ellen Lambeth

Kruger doesn't look much like a "king of beasts" as he climbs around on his mom. That's because he's still a little cub. It'll be at least a couple of years before he grows the big bushy mane of an adult male lion and leaves home and his mother.

Right now, all Kruger cares about is playing around with Mom and his sisters. If that wears him out, he can just take a little nap. And if he's hungry, that's no problem either: Mom has all the milk he can drink. Sometimes she even brings meat back to the den for the cubs to sample. Of course,

he's never been on a hunt himself . . . yet.

But there's a first time for everything. Although Kruger won't be hunting any time soon, today could be the day he meets Mom's pride for the first time. A pride is a group of lions that live together. It's made up mostly of related females and their cubs.

Like all lion moms, Kruger's mom had left the pride to give birth in a private place. Newborn Kruger and his sisters each weighed just a little over three pounds (1.4 kg). Their eyes were closed and they were totally helpless for the first week or two. But they grew fast. Turn the page, and you'll see how Mom took care of the little cubs when they were first up and around.

Mind your mother, baby cubs!

Mom keeps close watch over Kruger and his sisters in the photo above. Look at timid little Kruger. He's playing it extra safe by hiding underneath Mom!

Those spotted baby coats help the cubs hide in the grassy shadows. The spots will fade as the cubs grow up. But they work great while the cubs are still little. That's especially true when Mom leaves her babies behind for a while to hunt or to visit her pride. For cubs that are home alone, staying out of sight helps them stay out of trouble. Otherwise predators such as leopards or wild dogs might find them and make a quick meal of them.

ikes, that looks like it hurts! (right) But it doesn't. Ever so gently, Mom grabs Kruger in her jaws. Why? To move him, and then his sisters, to a new den. It's another way to trick animals on the lookout for a baby-lion lunch. Changing dens from time to time may help keep predators from finding the cubs.

ruger and his crew are older now and have joined the pride. But they're still not old enough to hunt. They leave that up to Mom. Crouched and ready, she pops her head up for a better view (above). See how her pale fur blends in with the dried grass? That helps her hide while she watches some wildebeests (WILL-duh-beasts) drinking at a water hole.

She's hungry now, and so are the cubs. But they watch the whole show from a safe distance (above right).

Keeping low and under cover, Mom slowly and quietly creeps toward her prey without taking her eyes off them. She knows they can outrun her, so she must get much closer--and then . . .

Whoooosh--Mom charges with a powerful burst of speed (below). In a flash, the wildebeests turn tail and scatter. One of them could find itself headed straight toward the jaws of another hungry lion. (Lions in a pride often use teamwork to bring down prey.) But this time all the wildebeests make a clean getaway.

When work is done, it's back tot he gentle life.

Ahhh, sweet success! Later--after the escape of the wildebeests--Mom got lucky. A Cape buffalo wandered alone to the water hole, and she quickly brought it down. Now she shares her kill (above).

There's Kruger, climbing up on the buffalo's head. Mom knows just how to kill her prey with one good bite to the neck, throat, or snout. All Kruger can do is try a little practice nip on this already-dead prey!

Even though lions are powerful predators, they have many more misses than hits. Mom nabbed this buffalo easily because it was sick. Animals that are young, old, or caught by surprise are also easy prey. Lions aren't picky about what they eat, but they need a lot of it! That's why they go for such large prey. By the way, Kruger doesn't know it yet, but someday his sisters will be much better hunters than he.

Look! Listen! Lunch is out there somewhere.

Kruger and his sisters got an after-dinner scrub with Mom's rough-tough tongue. Looks as if they may be trying to return the favor! (right) Lion moms spend a lot of time with their cubs. (And with their sisters' cubs. And their cousins' cubs. In a pride of lions, everybody gets a chance to babysit!)

It'll be two or three years before these lion cubs are any good at hunting. There will be tons of time ahead to work on that. Right now, Kruger and his family feel groggy from their feasting. So it's as good a time as any for a nuzzle, snuggle, and snooze!

COPYRIGHT 1997 National Wildlife Federation
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group