Channel: Africa Adventures

Category: Pets & Animals

Tags: africakruger national parksatara lion pridecasper the white lionwildlife

Description: Everybody is excited about the birth of the three cute Lion Cubs born into the Satara Pride. There are much speculation about who the biological father might be. Its is definitely offspring of the four World Famous 'Shish' Brothers – Casper the White Lion, Casanova, Footloose and Mfowethu - of Kruger National Park in South Africa. Looking at the timeline from possible conception to the birth and then the introduction of the cubs to the pride I am sort of convinced that the proud father might be Mfowethu? We documented Mfowethu with our lioness several times over a four day period. PLEASE NOTE: When Lionesses are in heat she will allow all the males in the Pride with her – thereby the males would believe that the cubs are his and all will have a vested interest in protecting the offspring. Once a lioness realizes she’s going into labor, she’ll sneak away from the pride and hide herself in a secret lair, where she’ll give birth to a litter of 2 to 6 cubs and stay with them for around three months. Why all the secrecy? It’s simple: survival. The odds are already stacked against a female lion bringing a cub to term! Part of that is just the harshness of life in the wild; many lion cubs starve, both in infancy and beyond. A female lion has only four teats, so litters larger than four generally won’t all survive. And once cubs have returned to the pride, when food is scarce, they often go unfed, meaning they regularly starve. That explains part of the reason lions go into hiding when giving birth; lionesses will allow any cub in the pride to suckle (they group-mother the cubs), and older cubs are as hungry for mother’s milk as brand-new-babies. If she stayed with the pride to give birth, a lioness’s milk would likely never make it to her own young. Another major killer of lion cubs is even crueler than starvation: it’s other lions. Read more: thomsonsafaris.com/blog/pregnancy-lioness GAME DRIVE ETIQUETTE - RULES (SANParks): – When you come across a sighting, slowly pull over on the side of the road closest to the animal, but keep a safe distance and turn OFF your engine – If there are animals in the road, immediately stop at least 20 m from them – The lane furthest from the sighting should NEVER be blocked, so that others can pass if they want to – Don’t linger longer than a few minutes at a sighting, so that others can view it too – Never go off the designated roads – Never climb out of your vehicle during a drive, or hang out of your car windows or sunroof – Don’t hoot or blare loud music – Avoid driving into vegetation, as this could damage the environment or kill small animals – During night drives, never shine a spotlight directly in animals’ eyes – Never make noise to get animals to move, stand up or otherwise react for pictures – Respect the rangers, and always comply with their requests or instructions Beautiful, Original and High Quality Wildlife videos only on this channel. Enjoy, Like and Subscribe for more. SUBSCRIBE youtube.com/user/jks18354?sub_confirmation=1 ALSO: Watch and subscribe to this amazing "Big On Wild" Wildlife Channel youtube.com/channel/UCmH6LsdLEjFUk3JmWgEJeTg