See the Last Battle of a Real-Life Lion King

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Even the most glorious reigns have to come to an end eventually. Nevertheless, it is upsetting to see it happen in such a brutal and violent way as this.

Over the length of this video footage, which lasts for 15 minutes and has been viewed over 32 million times, we see a previously dominant male lion overcome by two younger males. The conflict is damaging for all three lions involved and they all sustain injuries, but it is the older lion who comes off worst.

This was filmed at the Kruger National Park in Africa and is not easy to watch in some places. Even though we know that this is nature’s way of ensuring the survival of a species, it is still hard to see the loss of dignity of an old warrior.

Lions Protecting Territories

Lions are territorial and social animals. They live in a group called a pride and this consists of around six related (although this can be up to 20) females and their offspring. There is also a coalition of males associated with the pride, which may have two or three male lions in it. Larger coalitions of related males can also exist.

Coalitions of males can “take over” a pride if they can dominate that pride’s existing male lion or lions. This seems to be what is happening here. It ensures that the fittest male lions get the mating rights to the females and the offspring have the best chance of survival.

Now that the pride of this old lion has been taken over, the reproductive clocks of all the females will be synchronized. The existing cubs are a problem for the newcomers because they are not the fathers of these cubs. Therefore, it is common for the new male lions to kill the existing cubs and a quarter of all cub deaths can be attributed to this.

Lion Pride Creche

The synchronization of reproduction means that the females will then give birth at about the same time. The mothers form a “crèche” and often nurse each other’s cubs. Mothers who have just one cub are particularly generous in sharing their milk supply.

This arrangement gives the cubs the best chance of survival. The group of mothers has a better chance of protecting the cubs from attacking males. However, the main protection comes from the males associated with pride. These cubs are their offspring so it is in their interest to keep them safe!

However, they will no longer be safe once the older, dominant lion is taken over by younger males, as can be seen in this featured video.

More Incredible Lion Videos You May Like

Lions have earned the title “kings of the jungle” for a reason. These fearsome felines are always flaunting their ferocity, in the next video you can watch as a single lioness defends her pride’s watering hole from a huge pack of attacking wild dogs. Even though the dogs team up on her, she is still able to assert her dominance and scare them off.