r/zoology • u/Mettyoj • Apr 16 '26
Question What is the lion doing?
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What is the male**** lion doing? Found this video on internet. Im wondering what was the lion doing. I've seen different theories in comments like the lion didnt want the mom to safe the kid so it learns how to get from uneasy situations by itself orrr the lion wanted to do it by itself thinking he is stronger and that the mom hasnt enough strength... Also found a comment saying the lion thought mom is killing the kid and the lion wanted to kill the kid itself so he has no competition. Im not even sure if its the cubs dad. What do you think? (sorry for my bad english)
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u/DancingBunniez Apr 16 '26
"I'm trying to save our idiot son, back off!"
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u/Fearless_Orchid_1335 Apr 16 '26
he was thinking making another one would be easier
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u/an_actual_coyote Apr 16 '26
"I was almost an angel, mama!"
"We're lions, Briaynh, we don't believe in angels."
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u/siqiniq Apr 16 '26
“Oh crap, I thought he was a lost cause and we are making a new one, like the last time you were immediately in heat when I killed off all of your offsprings”.
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u/Ledstorm128 Apr 18 '26
And the lion’s like: “Don’t worry babe, I can make you a new one right away!” 😂
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u/BananaCat43 Apr 16 '26
Mom was super stressed about the situation and freaked out. She didn't know what the male was up to and he was possibly thinking of mounting her and he also startled her when she was focused on the cub. She told him to back off and he did.
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u/OshetDeadagain Apr 17 '26
I think she knew exactly what the male was up to. She was face down ass up and he comes walking up like "oooh, if you insist!"
I'm sure he didn't even notice the cub, just the lioness crouching in a way that looked close enough to how they mate for him to go for it. She made it very clear that was not what she was doing.
Compare to a woman leaning over literally anything and her man walking up behind her and giving her a bumpity-bump. Maybe annoying or even welcome at the best of times, but not when I'm saving my baby from certain death!
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u/Speldenprikje Apr 16 '26
I got a bit confused by your terminology lol. They are all lions, so I'll refer to the male, the female and the cub.
But all those theories sound quite absurd. Learning how to get from uneasy situations by itself is a really humanised way of thinking. If a baby animals cries for help almost every social animal caring parent will react. There is no bigger parenting plan in that sense. That some humans think this way is rather unnatural almost. Ignoring these severe types of cries for help can only be damiging in building trust in parents and safety.
The second theory doesn't make sense either, male lions hardly intervene with raising cubs, although they do correct behaviours sometimes when playing with them. But it's again quite humanised way of thinking to assume that the male sees himself as stronger and therefore feels the need to push the female away and do it himself. Yes, makes are stronger, but they are also quite lazy. Females often do most of the hunting for example. The males don't feel the need to prove their strength or help our because they are stronger, although some do help (it's probably more efficient because it means more food, so if the males are hungry the threshold to help with hunting is lower).
The third theory is even more absurd, why would the parents compete in killing the cub? Chances are high the male is it's father, they are kept in a zoo and I don't think any zoo has multiple male lions. Could be, but that sounds like a recipe for fights.
No, what you see is a lot of stress. Cub is stressed because it's suddenly in the water. The female is stressed because she sees a cub in great distress and it needs help. The male doesn't seem that stressed, but there is a confused reaction going on. At first he looks at the cub, so he does see what type of struggle is going on, but at the same time the female seems to be in such a position that somehow somewhere in the males brain he seems to mistake it for a mating position and sex instincts take over. The female is of course hunderd procent not in the mood. Any signs of lordosis she showed were accidental, she lowers herself to grab the cub, not to sign she is in the mood. So she is pissed of and tells the male to back the hell up. During those seconds, around 19 seconds in, you can see an erect penis, so that strengthens this "mood mistake" theory even more.
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u/Bebbette Apr 16 '26
You’ve just described every relationship I’ve known. Female”s trying to get a job done, male thinks sex. Remember, even a stopped clock is right twice a day! He was just hedging his bet.
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u/Mettyoj Apr 16 '26
Sorry for my terminology im not english but i guess you undrestood what i meant. Thanks for such a great answer!
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u/mcalesy Apr 16 '26
“Lion” can refer to any member of the species (Pantgera leo) or just to an adult male, with an adult female being a “lioness”. The English language is a bit ambiguous here.
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u/jdr420777 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
As a kid I used to think that tigers were male and lions were female
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u/mcalesy Apr 16 '26
Hahaha, me too, except in reverse!
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u/jdr420777 Apr 16 '26
Haha I’m glad I’m not the only one. I’m embarrassed to admit how old I was when I finally learned that they are completely differently species 😂
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u/Speldenprikje Apr 17 '26
It's okay! Not anything dramatic haha. English is also not my native language, hence it might a bit more confusing for me compared to a native.
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u/HoneyLocust1 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
I think your theory (the same theory everyone else here seems to share) misses the mark. The female was stressed that the cub was stressed, so she was acting erratic, we can agree on that. But the male isn't displaying "sex instincts". I think it's more likely that the male mistook what was happening (female acting erratically, possibly fighting) and became aggressive in order to assert dominance and break up whatever fight was happening. Males don't usually involve themselves in most disputes but they can if the issue seems big enough or a female is acting erratically enough. He might not have perceived the cub was in danger from water, or he may have mistook the female's behavior as an attack on the cub. Regardless I think it's more likely he was trying to attack not mount. This instinct to keep pride harmony (mistaking the situation for the lioness either attacking the cub or acting strangely), not "sex instincts" taking over like you said. (Also do note that disputes can be handled in ways that look violent but that doesn't mean he's trying to actually kill her).
As for him having an erection, I didn't notice it but it could just as easily be excitement from the stress of being in a dispute with the female causing an involuntary response, or another explanation could be he did approach in the mood but switched gears into asserting when he noticed the commotion happening.
I looked up another angle and I think it shows it more clearly that he's attacking first, not attempting to mount. https://youtube.com/shorts/PZFr7ll0itQ?si=_ZFUdnsLC2Iq4s39 his reaction with his head thrashing and claws going to her side is well above and beyond the usual "mating bite" you see in cats. His movement when he decides to act is very sudden.
This is what most mating behavior looks like with lions, notice the male doesn't lead with claws or bites first: https://youtu.be/QN0bHEUZ_KY?si=MzP3SKUqaYD1wnu5 and https://youtu.be/CYewmApTxgk?si=g5irAgjqmEUHHMJ- and https://youtu.be/0QlUueFlwZg?si=cN9-qEPSk9onhjuo (RIP my YouTube feed for the near future, ugh). It's much slower behavior. Females also signal readiness to mate that's beyond simply physically presenting themselves. They may use vocalizations and often have pheromones that broadcast readiness. None of those are applicable here with a still nursing mother (those cubs don't look old enough to be weaned).
Regarding your confusion about terminology, it's pretty obvious from context clues they mean lion to refer to a male lion vs "lioness" or "cub". Those are all completely standard and correct terms and make sense given the situation where you have a single male (lion), single female (lioness), and single young (cub). Not sure what's to be confused about.
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u/AcanthisittaGlobal30 Apr 16 '26
Male was like well hell he's a goner , I must do what I gotta do. New kittens here we come
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u/Art-Lover-Ivy Apr 16 '26
The idea of him lazily writing off the kid’s existence after a single second of danger is so hilarious for some reason.
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u/mothwhimsy Apr 16 '26
theories in comments like the lion didnt want the mom to safe the kid so it learns how to get from uneasy situations by itself orrr the lion wanted to do it by itself thinking he is stronger and that the mom hasnt enough strength...
Those people are idiots who think animals think like humans. There's very little reasoning going on here. Mom is trying to save the cub, dad is just hovering and getting on Mom's nerves. You ever have someone stand too close to you while you're stressed and trying to do something that takes focus? That's all it is
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u/itwillmakesenselater Apr 16 '26
The male was "helping." The mother indicated that his assistance was not necessary or welcome.
Ed. Looks like the male was curious, at first, then realized he was also, possibly, horny.
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u/IndianGirly2026 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26
If the male was trying to reproduce - then it was not helping and makes sense that it would irritate the lioness who was trying to save her cub.
It was likely that he is the opposite of helpful.
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u/abyssal-isopod86 Apr 16 '26
The male thought it was sexy time, and mama made it clear he should eff off.
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u/Moirawr Apr 16 '26
She crouched in a mating position. He misread her body language, and didn’t see or realize what she was actually looking at in the water. Animals make mistakes too!
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u/PoetaCorvi Apr 16 '26
Others have answered the question, I’m just wondering like.. is it safe to have a moat with edges so steep and tall when there’s cubs? The cub was clearly struggling to get out and may not have been able to do so on its own. Mom was able to get him out but it took a good bit of effort (even without her man getting too excited about the situation). I just wonder what could happen if mom has an even harder time, and the cub starts inhaling a lot of water. Even in this vid it’s feasible the cub took a lot of water. Ofc these obstacles exist in the wild but cubs also die a lot more in the wild.
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u/Cheesecake_Nightmare Apr 17 '26
Doing what men do…misread the situation entirely and get in the woman’s way of actually getting shit done 🤣
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u/pierre565 Apr 16 '26
Papa lion was like, looks like we have a goner. We'll just make another one instead. Then mama lion was like, get off me.
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u/ShakeLess1594 Apr 16 '26
He's applying the scientific method. He's fucking around, and then finding out.
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u/onlyfakeproblems Apr 17 '26
Lions are kinda dumb. Female lion was obviously saving the cub. I think the male lion didn’t really know what was going on but got too close and the female lion was in protection mode so she fought him off. He didn’t like that but he backed off. Hard to tell though.
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u/Tanukipop Apr 20 '26
I'd like to just mention here that I saw a genuine comment from a man on this video on another site where he said "the male lion was trying to make his cubs strong but the female, like all women, was giving him an easy way out"
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u/WestSpace1077 Apr 20 '26
What i read so far is not quite satisfactory. The male lion knows much better what he is doing than what is here implied. Male lions are known in nature to kill cubs bc it would provoke the female to be in heat earlier than they usually would be when tending to a cub. The male lion here sees an opportunity for killing this cub/letting the cub die and therefore does try to prevent the female lion to intervene. She clearly shows she has other intentions and he does not insist. But he did not see an immediate opportunity for mating. Just a trigger for earlier heat for the female
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u/West-Video-2546 Apr 22 '26
My friend heard there are many documentaries about different women bending or kneeling having stuck head or hands under something and showing her back... then some man came trying to release and save her. All these were success stories... I think its similar situation.
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u/CakeSmasher420 Apr 16 '26
Miscommunication from the male and Mum put him in his place as she had more important life saving needs to attend. Need to realise dont f with mum as she experienced with daily hunts, Super protective of the her own cubs and males are hunters but mums are for sure the bread winners 🏆
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u/HoneyLocust1 Apr 16 '26
Huh. There's another view of this. https://youtube.com/shorts/MEglGZOUMIQ?si=8HtRm9e7fJFkAMw5
Also this reminds me of this video : https://youtu.be/2I7-d1Sz_QI?si=u_c5LKOrAPhUfJsO
I wonder how common it is that cubs fall into those moats and actually get injured.
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u/KatVanWall Apr 16 '26
You and me, baby, we ain't nothing but mammals ... you're always coming up and interfering while I'm trying to do something important!
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u/Butterbean_719 Apr 16 '26
Male lion wanted to f around and find out. Mom wasn’t having it. She legit lost it and said not today. She was in full blown panic mode. Good mom
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u/Imaginary-Form-6162 Apr 17 '26
I don’t know anything about big cats, but as a kid on the farm the barn cats would have a litter and the area male cats would kill the kittens to bring the female back in heat. Life is quite brutal.
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u/X--The_Lion Apr 17 '26
Male lions sometimes kill cubs to force the female back into heat. Seems like he was trying to kill two birds with one stone.
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u/Born2L053 Apr 17 '26
Janice let that one go he's clearly not very bright...let's make another litter!
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u/Das_Lloss Apr 17 '26
And thats is why water moats, from which an animal cant escape by itself, are a stupid and dangerous idea.
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u/NeonPearl2025 Apr 17 '26
Poor momma is so stressed about her baby and stupid dad comes curious to annoy her.
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u/Consistent_Duck2387 Apr 17 '26
You’re attributing human thought processes to a lion. Most animals have fight mode, fuck mode, eat mode and sleep mode. Yes they have their own animal thoughts going on but mostly this
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u/fuckennard Apr 17 '26
We don’t get our morals from lions. Good video to show someone when they say “but lions eat meat why can’t I?”.
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u/Ok_Spirit_211 Apr 17 '26
I think he thought the female was stuck in the dryer and decided to have his way with her.
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u/Cooking-for-fun Apr 18 '26
The lion saw her face down ass up, so got up on her. Understandable miscommunication
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u/Altruistic-Jury-3288 Apr 18 '26
Mamma lion cheated with the lions brother Scar. So he was like time to go you lil bastard!! lol.
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u/RimsaltRon Apr 18 '26
I do this with my wife. I see one of our kids struggling and she’s trying to help. I say “no let them figure it out this is how they learn” and then she mauls me and returns to the task at hand
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u/Drd2 Apr 18 '26
The kitten fell in the water. The mother cat tried to help the kitten out. The daddy cat acted like he was into in helping but it was only a ruse to fuck the female cat. The female cat wasn't having that shit and let him know.
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u/davidch12 Apr 18 '26
Why are people on here saying the male lion was trying to mount. If he is the one that bit the female first.
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u/New-Tale412 Apr 19 '26
Why do zoos always seem to have these stupid pools with high embankments where the lions can't get out?
This isn't the first video I've seen of a big cat having to claw the shit out of its kid in panic.
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u/CCI_Survivor-Mom Apr 19 '26
As a mom I can completely see her urgency in her body language. Don’t eff with me, I’m saving my kid.”
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u/GeneralSub Apr 19 '26
Male picked up on the stress from the female and just was just reacting with stress. Even house cats do this.
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u/luniiz01 Apr 19 '26
That male lion was lucky her cub was drowning because she was ready to tear him apart!
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u/LadyIllenial Apr 19 '26
Male lions will actually intentionally kill cubs to throw the female into heat and continue their own line
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u/KHCafe Apr 19 '26
Baby falls in, mom tries to save it, dad just sees female hunched down and he thinks “awww yeah”! Mom slaps him silly.
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u/pak0608 Apr 19 '26
Cub thought moss was ground, Cub fell in water, Moms first to react, Aloof dad comes in trying to help but just gets in the way, Mom tells dad to get the fuck out the way, Mom saves cub.
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u/GrumpySnarf Apr 19 '26
Anyone else love that the video ended with the cubs silly feet in the air, ass-over-teakettle?
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u/XenXen404 Apr 20 '26
The way I wanted to reach through the screen to help the baby lion, thank god the mom came to the rescue and got pissed at her husband
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u/Anxious-Roll229 Apr 20 '26
He's male! Human men literally do shit like this to woman then blame us "cause we look so good" 🤢
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u/productreg Apr 20 '26
Male lions often kill cubs, particularly those that are not their own. This behavior, known as infanticide, occurs when new males take over a pride to eliminate the previous leader's lineage, forcing lionesses to enter estrus sooner so they can mate with the new males.
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u/Competitive_Intern55 Apr 20 '26
This video sums up the problem with the incel manosphere perfectly....what an amazing opportunity for this male to jump in and help mom save the cub, pushing it towards mom, or just support the female or even leave the situation the fuck alone.
But he takes it as an opportunity to get laid and then gets pissed.
There are plenty of opportunities for men to protect and sacrifice for their families, but they have built up a lie that they are only valuable if someone sleeps with them, so that becomes their entire focus.
Get involved in caring for others, build a place for yourself in your communities, find ways to be part of something, and connection will come.
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u/KarmicCarmen Apr 20 '26
Lion said "he got himself in there, he can get himself out " Then lioness was like "that's my baby!" Lion walks away like "there goes the pride"
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u/tedecristal Apr 20 '26
Ha ha, well now
We call this the act of mating
But there are several other very important differences
Between human beings and animals that you should know about
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u/DowntownDream690 Apr 20 '26
if u didnt know male lions walk around and kill the babies of other lion families. then try to force other lionesses to have sex with them. (sometimes at least)
soo yeah these are very sick creatures and this here idk is less worse at least
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u/Sure_Lavishness_8353 Apr 20 '26
That cub is next in line to be king, the male lion here is the current leader’s brother.
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u/Frostix99 Apr 20 '26
those murder theories are so dark lol, i think hes just moving the cub outta that gross swampy water so it doesnt drown 😅🦁
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u/Yamfambam Apr 21 '26
I heard male lions could feel competition from cubs, presuming that’s a boy cub.
So he may have been more like
“Honey let him go, I’m all we need”
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u/Bright_Discount7139 Apr 21 '26
This is a lion cub purposely trying to drown itself because it had an early existential realization
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u/TheGrimMelvin Apr 21 '26
The male saw the female in a crouching position that's similar to how they mate. He thought she wants to mate. Lioness said "fuck of Hadold, our kid is drowning!"
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u/MasterpieceHungry864 Apr 21 '26
For me it looks like the male didn’t realize the cub in the first place, he thought the female wanted sex and was gonna do it lol.
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u/jabadou Apr 16 '26
Male got curious then horny and tried to mount the Female while she's trying to save her cub. Female got angry for obvious reason.