Astonishing pictures of the cub killed for insolence
By JANE FRYER
2nd March 2007
At first glance, it looks like a bit of rough and tumble. After all, what better thing to do under the glare of the scorching African sun?
In a typical display of juvenile posturing in the middle of Kenya's Masai-Mara, a young cub squares up to an adult male and lashes ineffectually with claws and teeth.
The overly-playful young lion gets cheeky
A moment of bravado later, however, and he's cuffed back into line by a lioness, tired of his childish antics.
But as this remarkable sequence of photographs shows, the play fast deteriorates into unimaginable violence and, minutes later, the three-month-old cub pays a terrible price for his insolence - a bloody death.
Because instead of a slap, a sulk and a restorative meal on the zebra carcass festering nearby, all hell suddenly breaks out in the heart of the pride.
The lioness challenges one of the two dominant males - in her fury forgetting his superior size, weight and, more importantly, pride etiquette.
The upset now leads, for no apparent reason, to all the lions going crazy - roaring, snarling and charging around in circles like mad things until the ground starts shaking.
Next, as the eight females and 11 cubs roar and claw the air in excitement, the two males themselves battle it out with huge paws and razor-sharp fangs.
Finally, the furious female lashes at the now terrified cub. She is like a beast possessed - teeth bared, rancid breath coming in rasping gasps - as she claws, bites and frenziedly kills him, ripping huge chunks from his soft, furry skin as his siblings watch in shock.
One of the lionesses kills the young male, while his siblings look on
Photographer Christine Denis-Huot, who with her husband Michel has studied lions in Africa for decades, was astonished: "In 25 years we have never seen anything like this. It was very sad."
Experts are equally stunned by the horrific behaviour. After all, lions do everything together - eat, sleep, live, breed and kill - in a pride which consists of eight to ten closely related lionesses who stay with the group for life, and one, or two, dominant males.
In normal circumstances, the male cubs which are not dominant leave, or are forced out, when they are a few years old.
But before then, they are a tightly-grouped pack and the females will do anything to protect their young.
DR Brian Bertram, a retired zoologist and lion researcher, says for a lioness to kill a cub in this way is unknown, although it is common for males to kill cubs in the pride.
"Infanticide is a regular practice among lions," he says "but only the males do it, usually when they take over a pride, to make sure their bloodline prevails.
"Killing the existing cubs ensures the females come back into cycle again so the male can mate with them - with cubs there, they won't breed," he adds.
"But for the female to lash out and kill one of the young is truly extraordinary."
Particularly given the way they raise the young - collaboratively in a creche-like environment, often suckling each other's cubs.
"It doesn't make sense for a lioness to behave so aggressively with a cub she has helped raise," says Dr Bertram.
"It seems more like a hysterical reaction - as if the lioness has malfunctioned in some way because normal social relations in the pride have broken down."
Back on the hot grass, the attack finally comes to a dusty, bloody end.
The cub lies lifeless in the grass, the lioness throws back her massive head and, tongue lolling, mouth open wide, she looks as if she's howling in anguish.
But the tragedy of the cub is not over yet. Still warm, but lifeless and with dripping entrails dragging through the dust, he is carried to the shade of a tree by the lioness where she sits alone before finally devouring him - while his own mother just watches and does nothing.
It started out as an innocent afternoon's fun for this young male cub, playfully biting a lioness's neck. More pictures follow...
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
-------------------
Then the cub gets cheeky. In an act of folly which turns to tragedy, he takes a swipe at one of the dominant males, while the pride's lionesses look on
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
--------------------
Enraged, the lion king roars and the cub runs to the lionesses. But they themselves have become roused to fury
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
----------------
Her blood up, one of the females even challenges the male, forgetting his size and his dominant position in the pride
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
----------------
Now all the lions join in roaring and fighting, two males squaring up. The females are so angry they rush to the cub
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
------------------
...and one of the lionesses kills the young male, while his siblings look on
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
-----------------
With what looks a howl of anguish, the female sits with the dead cub in front of her
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
dailymail.co.uk
By JANE FRYER
2nd March 2007
At first glance, it looks like a bit of rough and tumble. After all, what better thing to do under the glare of the scorching African sun?
In a typical display of juvenile posturing in the middle of Kenya's Masai-Mara, a young cub squares up to an adult male and lashes ineffectually with claws and teeth.
The overly-playful young lion gets cheeky
A moment of bravado later, however, and he's cuffed back into line by a lioness, tired of his childish antics.
But as this remarkable sequence of photographs shows, the play fast deteriorates into unimaginable violence and, minutes later, the three-month-old cub pays a terrible price for his insolence - a bloody death.
Because instead of a slap, a sulk and a restorative meal on the zebra carcass festering nearby, all hell suddenly breaks out in the heart of the pride.
The lioness challenges one of the two dominant males - in her fury forgetting his superior size, weight and, more importantly, pride etiquette.
The upset now leads, for no apparent reason, to all the lions going crazy - roaring, snarling and charging around in circles like mad things until the ground starts shaking.
Next, as the eight females and 11 cubs roar and claw the air in excitement, the two males themselves battle it out with huge paws and razor-sharp fangs.
Finally, the furious female lashes at the now terrified cub. She is like a beast possessed - teeth bared, rancid breath coming in rasping gasps - as she claws, bites and frenziedly kills him, ripping huge chunks from his soft, furry skin as his siblings watch in shock.
One of the lionesses kills the young male, while his siblings look on
Photographer Christine Denis-Huot, who with her husband Michel has studied lions in Africa for decades, was astonished: "In 25 years we have never seen anything like this. It was very sad."
Experts are equally stunned by the horrific behaviour. After all, lions do everything together - eat, sleep, live, breed and kill - in a pride which consists of eight to ten closely related lionesses who stay with the group for life, and one, or two, dominant males.
In normal circumstances, the male cubs which are not dominant leave, or are forced out, when they are a few years old.
But before then, they are a tightly-grouped pack and the females will do anything to protect their young.
DR Brian Bertram, a retired zoologist and lion researcher, says for a lioness to kill a cub in this way is unknown, although it is common for males to kill cubs in the pride.
"Infanticide is a regular practice among lions," he says "but only the males do it, usually when they take over a pride, to make sure their bloodline prevails.
"Killing the existing cubs ensures the females come back into cycle again so the male can mate with them - with cubs there, they won't breed," he adds.
"But for the female to lash out and kill one of the young is truly extraordinary."
Particularly given the way they raise the young - collaboratively in a creche-like environment, often suckling each other's cubs.
"It doesn't make sense for a lioness to behave so aggressively with a cub she has helped raise," says Dr Bertram.
"It seems more like a hysterical reaction - as if the lioness has malfunctioned in some way because normal social relations in the pride have broken down."
Back on the hot grass, the attack finally comes to a dusty, bloody end.
The cub lies lifeless in the grass, the lioness throws back her massive head and, tongue lolling, mouth open wide, she looks as if she's howling in anguish.
But the tragedy of the cub is not over yet. Still warm, but lifeless and with dripping entrails dragging through the dust, he is carried to the shade of a tree by the lioness where she sits alone before finally devouring him - while his own mother just watches and does nothing.
It started out as an innocent afternoon's fun for this young male cub, playfully biting a lioness's neck. More pictures follow...
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
-------------------
Then the cub gets cheeky. In an act of folly which turns to tragedy, he takes a swipe at one of the dominant males, while the pride's lionesses look on
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
--------------------
Enraged, the lion king roars and the cub runs to the lionesses. But they themselves have become roused to fury
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
----------------
Her blood up, one of the females even challenges the male, forgetting his size and his dominant position in the pride
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
----------------
Now all the lions join in roaring and fighting, two males squaring up. The females are so angry they rush to the cub
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
------------------
...and one of the lionesses kills the young male, while his siblings look on
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
-----------------
With what looks a howl of anguish, the female sits with the dead cub in front of her
© Christine and Michel Denis-Huot
dailymail.co.uk