Structure of a lion pack. A pride is a group of lions. What is a pride? See what "Pride" is in other dictionaries

Pride

Pride(English) Pride) - a family flock of lions and primates.

Lions are carnivorous mammals and live in family groups - prides.

A pride consists of one or more adult males (usually no more than 3), several mature females (a harem of females) and their cubs (lion cubs of both sexes). The number of pride can reach 30-40 animals. The prides are always dominated by lions - alpha males. The functions of males include only reproduction and protection of the territory, including from other males. Hunting and education (training) of cubs is carried out mainly by lionesses. All lionesses are related to each other. Young males are expelled from the pride upon reaching puberty. Females leave the pride very rarely.

The hierarchy in the pride is weakly expressed, with small prey the male eats first, usually he allows the cubs to eat with him. Equality reigns among lionesses, while nursing lionesses also feed other people's cubs. When hunting, lionesses act together, which allows them to get even very large animals weighing about a ton. Since the pride moves around its territory all the time, pregnant lionesses leave it before giving birth to find shelter and return to the pride after one and a half to two months.

Pride protects aged and sick lionesses for a long time, for example, if a lioness cannot hunt due to injuries received in the hunt, then she is allowed to eat.

Lion cubs in the pride, as a rule, are the children of the currently dominant male. In the event that the male is expelled by a stronger competitor, the new leader seeks to destroy the living kittens in order to persuade the females to new mating.

A pride-controlled hunting area can cover an area of ​​several tens of square meters. km.

Notes

see also

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  • Public lifestyle increases the stability of the "predator-prey" system

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See what "Pride" is in other dictionaries:

    PRIDE- (English pride), a small but stable group of lions (6 12 individuals), consisting of several related females with their offspring and males who live and hunt together. A pride is usually led by one large male leader. Ecological ... ... Ecological dictionary

    - (English pride), a stable group of individuals in a lion population of 6 12, occasionally 20 or more individuals. Usually P. consists of several. relatives females with their offspring and one large male heading the P.; often in P. there are 2 3 males. .(Source:… … Biological encyclopedic dictionary

    Exist., number of synonyms: 2 brotherhood (20) flock of lions (1) ASIS synonym dictionary. V.N. Trishin. 2013 ... Synonym dictionary

    - "Pride Media" Type limited liability company Year of foundation 2004 Location ... Wikipedia

    Pride A pride family pack of lions or primates. Gay pride is one of the fundamental concepts of the LGBT movement. The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride is an animated feature film by the Walt Disney Company. Pride Media is the largest ... ... Wikipedia

    Full English name Pride Park Stadium Location Derby ... Wikipedia

    Halstead Street is one of the central streets of Chicago ... Wikipedia

    Michael Praed Michael Praed Birth name: Michael Prince Date of birth: April 1, 1960 (age 49) (19600401) Place of birth: Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England ... Wikipedia

    - (English WorldPride) an event organized by the international association InterPride that helps gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people draw the attention of the international community to their problems through parades, festivals and other ... ... Wikipedia

    Moscow gay parade in 2010. Gay pride (eng. Gay pride), a gay parade action, the task of which is to demonstrate the existence of LGBT people in society (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Pride. Ghost Ring, Prokofieva Sofya Leonidovna, Popovich Oleg. Love that can change reality. Jealousy, lies and their natural complement are the offspring of evil. "Other" world, which, while usually remaining hidden, nevertheless, through countless, ...

Pride is a lion family

Pride is a family of lions. Several lionesses with children and a couple of lions. There are prides, consisting of about forty individuals. These are the most numerous. But usually there are 10-12 lions in a pride: lionesses, kittens and lions. Prides are women's associations, and most often related. They are created by lionesses to protect offspring. The lions just join them. Among the lions - one leader. He has the right to be the first to profit from the victim of a successful hunt, the first to defend the territory of the pride, the first “groom” in the pride.

“Lions do not pick fights with other animals and rarely fight each other seriously. Even during estrus, seeking the favor of a beautiful lioness, lions almost never stoop to a fight with an opponent. Instead, they quite sensibly leave the choice to the lioness, and the rejected cavalier goes in search of another mate, or he can wander around and wait his turn, for lions are supporters of polygamy and the lioness usually has nothing against friendship with several lions, whom she love in turn. And a lion can start a harem or share one lioness with another lion. That's why you can find a group of a lion and three lionesses, or two lionesses and four lions, and almost any combination. Often two same-year-old lions have a close friendship, and they hunt and live together for a long time. Of course, there are also cases of deep affection between a lion and a lioness ”(L. Kotlow)

Usually, young lions at the age of 2.5 years leave the pride, so as not to claim the championship in it. They live alone or in small teams (up to seven lions) for 2-3 years. And since sooner or later the lion needs to get into the pride, it is easier to capture it with a team, and then protect it.

The pride owns the territory in which it hunts and protects it from other lions. The most authoritative lion of the pride marks its borders with a mixture of urine and secretions of the anal glands, and any lion who approaches his land knows where the border is.

Young lone lions are not burdened with feeding their cubs and taking care of the territory, so they eat better and sooner or later conquer the territory for themselves, which hosts one or even several prides of lionesses. The first thing a lion does when he captures a pride is to kill all the cubs. Lionesses, as a rule, are not able to interfere with them, and only cubs older than a year have a chance of salvation. A lioness who has lost her cubs starts estrus in 2-3 weeks and she will soon give birth from a new leader. Killing cubs is a necessity, because otherwise the new leader would have to wait at least two years for his own offspring, and despite the fact that the leader of the pack (pride), as a rule, is replaced every 2-4 years, he would not have time to raise his own cubs

“...our car almost crashed into a group of lions basking in the sun. All of them - a lion, three lionesses and a lion cub - raised their heads, looked at us carefully, but did not move ... The lions watched our approach, but it did not seem to excite them ... We stopped fifteen feet from the lions. The lions continued to lie quietly and indifferently contemplate us - everything except the lion cub, which growled furiously at the car. The rest didn't seem to be interested in us at all; after we stopped, they lowered their muzzles, and one lioness, lazy and careless, closed her eyelids and dozed off. Her friend lay at a distance and could not see us properly. She got up and moved towards us, though not deigning to look at us. The lioness passed by without paying the slightest attention to us, and disappeared into the bushes. Cheered up, I ordered the driver to bring the car very slowly close to the lions. We were within four feet of the nearest lioness. I lowered the glass and aimed the lens directly at the lioness. When the buzzing of the apparatus was heard, she raised her muzzle and squinted slightly, as if surprised at what was happening. Her gaze was calm and friendly, although it betrayed some wariness, and she seemed to be smiling softly. Having filmed the lions on film, I took out the "watering can" and took a few more shots. Eventually the lion got up and walked towards the bushes, the others following him. They all left with a disdainful look ”(L. Kotlow)

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An excerpt characterizing the Pride

Instead of demanding four months ago to retreat from Numberania, now they demanded to retreat only beyond the Neman. Napoleon quickly turned and began to pace the room.
- You say that I am required to retreat beyond the Neman to start negotiations; but two months ago they demanded of me to retreat across the Oder and the Vistula in exactly the same way, and in spite of this, you agree to negotiate.
He silently walked from one corner of the room to the other and again stopped in front of Balashev. His face seemed to be petrified in its stern expression, and his left leg trembled even faster than before. Napoleon knew this trembling of his left calf. La vibration de mon mollet gauche est un grand signe chez moi, [The trembling of my left calf is a great sign,] he later said.
“Such proposals as to clear the Oder and the Vistula can be made to the Prince of Baden, and not to me,” Napoleon almost cried out quite unexpectedly. - If you gave me Petersburg and Moscow, I would not accept these conditions. Are you saying I started a war? And who came to the army first? - Emperor Alexander, not me. And you offer me negotiations when I have spent millions, while you are in alliance with England and when your position is bad - you offer me negotiations! And what is the purpose of your alliance with England? What did she give you? he said hastily, obviously already directing his speech not in order to express the benefits of concluding peace and discuss its possibility, but only in order to prove both his rightness and his strength, and to prove the wrongness and mistakes of Alexander.
The introduction of his speech was made, obviously, to show the advantage of his position and to show that, despite the fact, he accepts the opening of negotiations. But he had already begun to speak, and the more he spoke, the less able he was to control his speech.
The whole purpose of his speech now, obviously, was only to exalt himself and insult Alexander, that is, to do exactly the very thing that he least of all wanted at the beginning of the meeting.
- They say you made peace with the Turks?
Balashev nodded his head affirmatively.
“The world is closed…” he began. But Napoleon did not let him speak. He apparently needed to speak on his own, alone, and he continued to speak with that eloquence and intemperance of irritability to which spoiled people are so prone.
– Yes, I know you made peace with the Turks without getting Moldavia and Wallachia. And I would give your sovereign these provinces just as I gave him Finland. Yes,” he continued, “I promised and would give Emperor Alexander Moldavia and Wallachia, and now he will not have these beautiful provinces. He could, however, have annexed them to his empire, and in one reign he would have extended Russia from the Gulf of Bothnia to the mouths of the Danube. Catherine the Great could not have done more,” said Napoleon, flaring up more and more, walking around the room and repeating to Balashev almost the same words that he had said to Alexander himself in Tilsit. - Tout cela il l "aurait du a mon amitie ... Ah! quel beau regne, quel beau regne!" he repeated several times, stopped, took a golden snuffbox from his pocket and greedily pulled it out of his nose.

Lions have been idolized since ancient times, endowing them with different characteristics. First of all, their strength and ferocity were valued, they were revered as invincible fighters. In the same ancient Egypt, the image of a lion on flags, coats of arms and emblems symbolized the power of the pharaohs. It is known that these animals never attack without a reason, if there is no threat to their life. However, the king of animals can be aggressive, defending his right to prey, a female, or a pride territory.

prides

Pride is a family group. Lions prefer life in a team and are rarely alone. The size of the group of these predators is not always the same. It ranges from four to forty individuals. Of the entire cat family, only lions live and hunt in groups. A pride of lions usually includes several females with cubs, young males and only one leader. At the same time, the head of the pack is not always the strongest or largest male. But the entire pride of lions recognizes his authority and obeys him. Sometimes the leader kicks young males out of the group. In the future, they can join another group or create their own pride.

How is the life of a pride of lions?

These animals are very sociable, and often the group can reach a number of forty individuals. The basis of any such team are lionesses. They raise offspring under the protection of the entire pride. What is remarkable - lion cubs can suck milk not only from their mother, but also from any other female who has recently given birth to cubs. Lionesses raise offspring together and do not divide cubs into friends and foes.

All members of the pride are very attached to each other and often show tender feelings, which are expressed in licking each other or rubbing their cheeks when they meet. As in any family, there are small skirmishes, but they are mainly due to the division of booty.

Power in prides

Any pride of lions, the photo of which can be seen in this article, has only one leader, to whom all power belongs. This is an adult male that dominates the pack. He has the right to be the first to mate with lionesses and start eating prey. But the leader also has his own duties - to look after the cubs while their mothers are on the hunt, to protect the flock from strangers and any dangers.

A pride of lions usually contains no more than three adult males, as young predators, growing up, can begin to challenge the supremacy. If they lose, they are expelled from the pride. For some time they lead a lonely life, and then create their own family group or join another pack.

How do lions hunt?

Lions hunt in groups, together pursuing one chosen prey. They can develop great speed only at short distances. They prefer to hunt down prey, get as close to it as possible. And it's mostly the females that hunt. This is due to the fact that lionesses are less visible than males, more agile, so the likelihood of catching prey increases several times.

Often females surround the herd from different sides and pounce on the nearest animal. Lionesses try to attack with one powerful jump, breaking the cervical vertebrae with their jaws or strangling the victim. Even one fatal blow with a paw is enough for small animals. Females provide food for the entire pride of lions, so their main prey is still large ungulates (buffaloes, zebras, antelopes, etc.). Males usually do not take part in the hunt, with rare cases when the prey comes across very large. Often lions prefer to fight off sick and weak animals or cubs from a herd. With such prey it is easier to manage and hunting does not take much effort and time.

Mating season for lions

A lion caring for a female is very attentive to her. The mating season begins with the lioness in heat. Until the female becomes pregnant, this period is repeated every 3 weeks. The resulting pair leaves the pride of lions for about five days or a week, leaving for a secluded place. At this time, they are inseparable and are always nearby. Sometimes the "honeymoon" lasts even more than two weeks.

Mating occurs several times a day. A lion can copulate 70 times in 24 hours. The recovery period between mating is an average of twenty minutes. Usually everything happens quietly and quickly, except when the male in ecstasy begins to growl and pats the lioness by the scruff of the neck. At this time, a lion can sometimes miscalculate its bite force and, in a moment of passion, inadvertently kill his girlfriend.

Pride territory

The territory on which a group of any animals lives is almost always marked by them. So do lions. A pride of lions sprays the borders of its territory with secretions from the anal glands, accompanying this action with a loud roar. This is done to protect the females of the flock and to legitimize the site on which they will hunt. But, nevertheless, lions do not patrol the established boundaries very vigilantly.

If there is little prey in the territory, then the pride's possessions can be expanded up to 15 km in all directions. Conversely, if there is enough food for the flock in a smaller area, then the boundaries are reduced. Young males can conquer the territory of the pride only by force. And lionesses will not allow a strange female into their flock if she tries to join their group.

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