![]() ''It would be hard for a hypothetical queen to control the reproduction of everybody else,'' he said, ''because all the females in the pride are armed to the teeth - and they've got claws, too. But, using some cold war phraseology, he said ''mutually assured destruction'' was another factor. Packer said the strong advantage brought on by cooperation for functions like caring for the cubs was one reason for the egalitarianism. ''They'll form these nursery groups and collectively defend the whole batch.''ĭr. Lions that give birth about the same time will seek out each other, he said. Packer continued, there are ''just no signs of dominance among the females, so they really are partners,'' with their partnerships revolving around raising their cubs. ''That really stands in marked contrast to most other animal societies.'' ''Their society is very even-handed,'' he added. ''The major finding is that the females in the lion pride really form a true community where there's no bosses and everybody's pretty much the same,'' Dr. In some years, only one or two females managed to raise a litter of cubs in a given pride of lions, but over time, all the females had the opportunity to breed. ![]() Packer said none of the females reproduced much more or less than the others. In 31 prides, the scientists tracked every cub that reached its first birthday and identified its mother.Īdult males live separately, sometimes alone or in pairs, but also in larger groups dominated by a single lion.ĭr. Adult female lions band together with their offspring in groups called prides. ![]() Packer's team observed the behavior of lions in Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater. ''But the 'queen of beasts' is very democratic in her reproduction.''ĭr. ''The male lion - the 'king of beasts' - is a bit of a despot,'' Dr. ![]() A dominant lion usually sires most of the offspring, he said, a finding that has been confirmed by researchers using DNA testing. But the male lions establish a clear pecking order, Dr. ![]()
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