Animals don’t have a sense of shame (and why would they?), so they regularly allow us to look into their most private moments. And that’s exactly what happened with our lions a couple of days ago. Our guests were visibly amused by this, hmmmm, “interesting” sighting, and there was a lot giggling. Well, it’s obvious as to why.
Lions, when in heat (which can occur at any time during the year), are known to have a voracious sexual appetite, being “busy” up to forty (yes, that’s 40) times per day, and often forgo eating and hunting during those days. And how else could they manage? No time left.
The gestation period is relatively short at 110 days, and a lioness gives birth to 1-4 cubs at a time. The early weeks are very dangerous for lion cubs, and so lionesses hide them in various dens, moving them around in order to avoid scent to build up around the den. It is known that buffaloes will try to trample lion cubs to death should they come across a den, and also Jackals, snakes, Hyenas and Martial Eagles amongst others mean grave danger to them.
We’ll see in a few months how this lioness will manage!
