Lion cubs are the pride of their family. Lion moms have 3–6 cubs at a time!
The lion, or Lord of the jungle has been a symbol of royalty and bravery for thousands of years among different cultures across the world. A family of lions is called a Pride. A pride has a Mom, Dad, Brothers, Sisters, Cousins and more, just like you! Everyone stays together in a pride.
The Mom lion gives birth away from the pride to keep the lion babies safe. She’s pregnant for about 110 days and can have 3-6 lion baby cubs! Like baby kittens and puppies, lion cubs are born blind and don’t open their eyes until about a week after birth. They start walking and crawling within just 2-4 days of being born! That’s super quick for a baby. Mom moves the lion babies around to ensure they stay safe and predators aren’t around. They get to meet the rest of the pride around six to eight weeks after they’re born. Just like when you meet new people, the lion cubs can be scared at first. They’re still babies and love to play! The cubs will get comfortable quickly and ask the adults to play with them.
In large prides, each lioness gives birth at around the same time. This lets them raise and suckle the cubs together once delivery is complete. The most unique part about a lion pride is that suckling can be done by any lactating lioness in the pride. This promotes survival! Males will sometimes play with the lion cubs and at other times will snarl for them to move on and play by themselves. Even though they may not always want to play, males take protecting baby lion cubs very seriously and will always protect them from predators.
