Tiny Lion Cubs Are Terrified to Cross a River to Reach Their Parents

Lion cubs are born tiny and helpless, but they can already walk by two weeks and begin eating meat around three months. Baby lions need their mother’s protection for the first two to three years. After that, female offspring usually stay in the same pride as their mothers while the males strike out on their own. Lion mothers tend to keep a watchful eye on their cubs when they are young, but that doesn’t mean they don’t let the cubs learn how to do things on their own. A YouTube video from Maasai Sightings in Africa shows two little cubs trying to figure out a way to cross a river to get to their mothers, while the two lionesses lounge casually, undisturbed.

About Maasai Mara National Reserve

The Maasai Sightings video comes to us from the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The wildlife reserve is home to a diverse array of animals, including lions, elephants, zebras, leopards, hippos, and cheetahs. The annual wildebeest migration, which includes over 1.2 million wildebeest, passes through the park as well. The park is an excellent spot to encounter wildlife in their natural habitat.

Why Do These Cubs Fear Swimming?

In the video from Maasai Sightings, the cubs are not that far from the adults, who are resting on some flat rocks along the river’s edge. The little cubs can be seen among the plants on the shoreline, just a short way away from the lionesses, with water between them. The little cubs are trying in vain to discover a way to get across the river. The cubs are small, and it would require a swim to cross the expanse to reach their mothers.

Although the cubs seem eager to reach the adults, the two lionesses lie calmly on the rocks. They are watchful of the babies but seem to be enjoying a short break. As for the cubs, if they truly felt under threat, they could probably paddle through the water to reach the adults. Although swimming isn’t preferred, big cats are typically capable swimmers.

Survival Instincts: Why Cats Avoid Deep Water

Lions typically avoid swimming in water if they can. When in deep water, they are vulnerable to threats that would not bother them on land. Both hippos and crocodiles are adept at maneuvering in the water and could easily cause a lion some trouble. These little cubs seem to have the instinct to know that a swim can mean trouble.

Overcoming Instinct: Why Lions Swim

Despite not liking it, lions will cross deep water when they need to. Researchers discovered a coalition of males that were regularly swimming across a 20-foot-deep channel. Researchers believe the reason for the risky behavior was the lack of mating partners in the males’ territory. They chose to swim through deep, crocodile-infested waters in the chance of finding a female lion to mate with.

Do Cubs Need to Be Taught to Swim?

Lions, like most mammals, don’t need swimming lessons. Most mammals will instinctively paddle when in water, keeping themselves afloat. At the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, new cubs must pass a swimming test before being allowed to explore their enclosure with their mothers.

According to a press release, “It’s possible that a cub could be playing around and get knocked into the moat by a parent or sibling. We want to make sure that if they find themselves in that situation, they know how to pull themselves out of the water and onto shore.”

Lions Make Excellent Mothers

The little cubs in the video may have wanted to get to their mothers, but the lions were watchful and weren’t too far if danger were to strike. Female lions in a pride often give birth to cubs around the same time. When cubs are born to multiple mothers in a pride, the females form a creche (or nursery) to help share in caring for their young. The lionesses will even help to nurse other lions’ cubs. The cubs will live together in the crèche, being raised side by side for a couple of years.

By distributing the labor of caring for the young, some of the lions can go on hunts to bring back food while others stay behind to care for the cubs. Lions are the only type of big cat that have been observed forming nursery groups in this manner. The females in the crèche will likely stay with the pride and help their cousins and sisters care for their own offspring one day. The males, however, leave the pride around two years of age.