September 2, 2023, 9:03 am | Read time: 6 minutes

Cats—including their larger relatives in the savanna—sometimes have peculiar mating rituals. There is often screaming, hitting, and biting involved. Lions, living in prides, have their own unique characteristics during mating. It can take about 1,000 copulations for a successful conception, requiring significant effort from both partners over several days. PETBOOK presents eight fascinating facts about the mating behavior of big cats and offers exclusive video footage of their most intimate moments.

Synchronized Heat

Lions typically live in prides consisting of several females, their offspring, and two to three males—usually the fathers of the young. While the males are part of the pride for only a few years, the females remain in the group they were born into for life. As a result, all the lionesses in a pride are generally related. It benefits them to raise not only their own offspring but also those of their sisters, aunts, or cousins. This increases the chance of successfully passing on their genes—or part of them—to the next generation. This is known as altruism.

For the females of a pride, it’s advantageous if not just one of them has young, but several animals are lactating and thus caring for the offspring. The mating readiness of the lionesses, also called heat, synchronizes within the pride so that they become pregnant and give birth around the same time. Another advantage is that the synchronized heat allows all the pride males to mate.

Also interesting: Liger—the cross between a lion and a tiger

Only the Big Ones Get to Mate

Male lions reach sexual maturity at about 26 months of age. However, it’s very unlikely they will mate at that age. They lack the experience and, most importantly, the body size to take over a pride and thus mating rights for its females. Most lions are four or five years old before they mate for the first time. Who gets to mate is decided solely by the females. They usually invite the suitor to copulate by assuming a specific position.

Power Struggles? Not Necessary in Lion Mating Behavior

A pride typically includes two to three males. But who decides who gets to mate when? In fact, there is little competition among the male lions during mating. Instead of fighting to be first, a male follows his chosen female closely from the first signs of her fertility. The other males usually keep their distance unless there is a significant size difference, in which case a fight may occur.

Otherwise, it’s worth waiting, as the females have a long fertility period and mate many times during this time—often with different males. It’s not uncommon for the partner to lose interest in mating before the end of the fertility period, giving the patiently waiting males a chance.

Up to 100 Times a Day—Every 15 Minutes!

Another peculiarity of lion mating behavior is the frequency. A lioness mates up to 100 times a day with an average interval of 17 minutes, with pauses ranging from 4 to 148 minutes. The mating itself lasts only about 20 seconds and appears anything but majestic. Often, both the female and male grimace, show teeth, growl, roar, or snarl.

In the intervals, things are calmer. Both partners often lie next to each other or walk a short distance together. The male tries to initiate the female again after some time by gently licking her shoulder, back, or neck, and the act begins anew. Sometimes, the male can be seen biting or pretending to bite the female’s neck at the end of the mating act. There is a hypothesis that the male must hold or fix the female at the end to prevent her from withdrawing prematurely, as the mating act can be quite painful for the lioness.

TRAVELBOOK editor Gudrun Brandenburg observed lion copulation in the wild during her trip to Tanzania in July 2023. Specifically, during a safari drive through the Serengeti National Park, one of the largest and most famous national parks in the world. From the safari vehicle, the editor filmed one of the mating acts, which lasted only a few seconds. Here is the video:

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Barbed Penis Makes Mating Painful for Lions

Male cats—and big cats—have barbs on their penis, which can slightly injure the female’s vagina upon withdrawal. This is actually intended by nature, as the resulting pain triggers ovulation. This could also explain why females show their teeth and growl during mating. The actual fertilization occurs only on the fourth day of estrus, as the female is only then ready to conceive. Since neither the lioness nor the lion keeps track of this with a book or calendar, the male puts in full effort from the first day of estrus.

Over 1,000 Mating Sessions Needed for a Litter

The fertility of the female and the size of the litter depend on the lioness’s diet. Typically, the conception rate during a heat is about 20 to 25 percent. On average, about 1,200 to 1,500 mating sessions are necessary for the birth of a litter. This explains why lions mate at such short intervals and so frequently throughout the day.

In zoos or animal parks, however, it seems different. Here, the conception rate is apparently higher due to better care of the animals. As a result, lionesses in most animal parks today receive birth control pills, as the zoos’ capacity is limited.

Experienced Females Choose Competing Males as Partners

Lionesses usually mate with several males. Young, inexperienced females tend to choose lions whose territories are far apart. Experienced lionesses, on the other hand, deliberately choose males whose territories are adjacent or overlap, meaning they are in direct competition with each other. Researchers from the Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology at the Wildlife Institute in India observed this. In their 2019 study, they found that while neighboring rivals were hostile to each other, they were tolerant of the young in the pride and cohabitation with the females.

This benefits the females, as it occasionally happens that males kill young that are not their own. However, if females mate with several rivals who are present at the same time, the exact paternity remains unclear. The scientists observed infanticide only when “new” males entered the territory of a female group.

Mating Behavior Allows Lions to Become Mothers at an Advanced Age

Lionesses can reproduce until about 15 years of age. This is remarkable, considering that the animals can live up to 16 years in the wild. A record-breaking lioness in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in the Kalahari Desert gave birth at the age of 19. However, lionesses’ reproduction generally declines after the age of 11.

More on the topic

More Common Than Expected Queer Behavior Observed in 6,000 Animal Species

Investigation The Strange World of Giraffe Mating

From Africa Serval Seized in Berlin: Why Wild Cats Shouldn’t Be Kept as Pets

Sources

• “Kurier.at,” “Every 30 Minutes Sex: The Lion as an Insatiable Animal” (accessed on 08/10/2023)
• Wwf.de, “Lion in the Species Lexicon” (accessed on 08/10/2023)
• WELT.de, “The Lion is a Sexual Libertine” (accessed on 08/10/2023)
• Lionalert.org, “Lion Reproduction & Offspring” (accessed on 08/10/2023)