In This Endearing Video, A Mischievous Lion Cub Wrestles With His Father

Wildlife photographer, Jason Kandume captures a unique and wonderful encounter between a brave youngster and his father while casually going to snap photographs of rhinoceros.

Paul

• Published in Animal Stories
• November 25, 2021

Vastly of the time, lion cubs prefer to be in the company of their mothers. They avoid keeping their newborn cubs near the lions for the fear that they will hurt them.

As a result, it's rare to see a young lion cub interacting with its father, it is almost impossible. In Namibia's Etosha National Park, Jason Kandume a wildlife photographer was expecting to capture some once-in-a-lifetime photos when he observed something completely unexpected and so rare.

According to Jason, he was originally at a waterhole to snap some rhinoceros then he heard the roaring of some lions. He decided to wait to capture these animals in their natural state.

"It's all about timing with lions since they can sleep for up to 20 hours at a time", he said. The family of lions arrived at the waterhole just as Kandume predicted, to put an end to their thirst.

Jason Kandume was able to take some great photos of them. However, the patient and the diligent photographer got even more than that, as he captured on camera a sparring match between a male cub and his enormous father.

This courageous little one not only displays no indications of fear, but he boldly confronts his enormous father to a wrestling match. Fortunately, the occasion was captured on camera, and the outcome will melt your heart.

The mischievous cub

The naughty cub was playing close to his mother when all of a sudden he dashed over to his father, who was relaxing just a few feet away from them. The joyful cub's intentions appeared to be anything but calm as he leaped over his father's back and began fighting him.

Lionesses give birth to their cubs away from the pride. An average lioness will give birth to three to six cubs in a single litter of cubs.

A lioness and her cub

Because cubs are born defenseless, she keeps them concealed from all animals, including her own pride, until they are old enough to care for themselves. Cubs are not even capable of opening their eyes till they are 3-11 days old.

She finally introduces the cubs to her pride when they are approximately eight weeks old.

Hunting spirit of lions

Hunting is a skill that every lion should be able to perform. It is the difference between being hungry and being starved.

Because, contrary to common belief, female lionesses are not the only ones who hunt in the pride, male cubs must also learn to hunt before they can join in. Training for hunting begins around the age of three months.

The cubs can't hunt because they are still young so the lionesses carry them to their dens to eat after the kill.

Protection

The protection of her offspring is one of the most critical tasks a lioness has to perform. It is estimated that the majority of cubs will not live to see their first birthday.

There are two possible explanations for this: hunger and invasion by a coalition of nations. A coalition is a group of male lions who have been expelled from another pride.

Their primary objective is to locate a group of females to form a pride. When they do manage to establish a pride, they must first defeat the current males in the group.

The cub escaped unhurt

Fortunately, despite his father's rough treatment, the cub was unhurt. That morning, his father appeared to be in a good humor.

Check out the adorable video here:

The lionesses will go to any length to safeguard their young. They will battle to the death on occasion, and they will form a gang to attack the intruding males.

Despite the fact that they are unable to defeat the larger cats single-handedly, the group has had some success when working together.

Paul