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The Most Epic Comeback Since the Expulsion From the Pride
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AnimalsTranscript
00:00About 80% of lion cubs die before the age of 2 years.
00:08Males make up only about 25% of the lion population.
00:13Their chance of survival is slim, and there are many challenges on their life path.
00:18Only some of them can go all the way to the end.
00:21And today we'll talk about them.
00:28The Mapogo Lion Coalition was a band of male lions who dominated a vast region of roughly
00:33170,000 acres.
00:35But there was intense rivalry in the band.
00:37And one day, two lions, Kinky Tail and Mr. T, had to leave their siblings.
00:43They defended the area, they claimed, until rivals attacked them.
00:46Kinky Tail died, and Mr. T had to leave his home again.
00:50But he survived.
00:51Survived and even managed to return to the Mapogo Coalition.
00:55This lion was exiled twice and went through all the stages depicted on this map.
01:00This is a very difficult path.
01:02The first issue the exiled lion faces is the need to heal his wounds.
01:06No male will leave his band or his pride of his own free will without a reason.
01:11The exile begins with fierce fighting that can last for 3-4 hours.
01:15Can you imagine the consequences of two strong predators with powerful teeth and claws trying
01:20to tear each other apart?
01:22What if several lions attack at once?
01:25That's how Kinky Tail died.
01:27He was attacked by four other males and ended up with a broken spine.
01:31The lions kept biting their rival, eating him, even before Kinky Tail died.
01:36Mr. T tried to save his brother, but failed.
01:39But let's just assume that Kinky Tail's wounds weren't lethal.
01:42Although sometimes it's hard to believe, but let's just assume that.
01:46The problem is that in the wild, there's always a risk of infection.
01:51Infection and then slow death.
01:53Lions don't have any special healing tricks, super fast regeneration, let alone primitive
01:57medicine like some primates have.
02:00Everything these predators, like many other animals, have in their medkit is their own
02:04saliva.
02:05In fact, licking wounds is a natural response that occurs even in humans, and this is actually
02:11logical.
02:12Saliva contains the so-called tissue factor, which stops bleeding, and the enzyme lysozyme
02:18kills some of the bacteria.
02:20Predators, by the way, work the same way.
02:22Remember the phoenix from Harry Potter?
02:24Though there's always a risk of infecting the wound with bacteria living in the mouth,
02:28and there's not enough saliva for every injury, but lions are quite bold and tough
02:32guys.
02:33They've learned to heal their wounds much faster than, for example, a human would.
02:38For example, a lion with a jaw pierced by a wildebeest horn recovered in just a few
02:43weeks.
02:44Any of us would need to urgently go to the hospital, get stitches, and take a long time
02:47to recover.
02:49Lions can handle anything, even seemingly lethal injuries.
02:53So why has exile become a thing among lions?
02:56Well, even the most prosperous, happy pride can only last a few years, from 2 to 5, under
03:01the leadership of one male or a group of males.
03:04After that, a stronger, younger, or just more furious lion shows up and wins the battle
03:09for the pride.
03:10The competition among lions is simply unbelievable.
03:14At the same time, females always remain part of the pride.
03:17They make up its core, define the territory of the pride, and actually control almost
03:21everything.
03:22The males come and go, mostly spending their time fighting each other and training the
03:26male cubs.
03:27Each of them will have to leave their family and somehow survive on their own.
03:31If, of course, the cubs survive to be exiled in the first place.
03:35Just imagine, every couple of years, some new wandering male lion drops by and chases
03:40away or kills the leader, and then gets rid of all his cubs.
03:43In the end, young lions face a choice.
03:46To die in a fight with an older and more experienced lion, or go into exile.
03:51Well, it's clear what they choose.
03:53Remember Scar from The Lion King?
03:55He was unhappy about his fate, dreamed of seizing power and all that.
03:59But from the point of view of real lions, Scar was really lucky.
04:03He survived to adulthood.
04:05If you look at an ordinary pride, it becomes clear that there's one male for every two
04:09or three females.
04:11Males make up approximately 25% of the entire lion population, though males and females
04:16are born in equal numbers.
04:18The rules of the lion society simply weed out male lion cubs.
04:22If a lion cub didn't die while he was small, keep in mind, only 1 out of 8 male lions survive
04:28to adulthood, then he's chased away.
04:31Females don't have such problems.
04:33They just keep living in the same area.
04:34True, when there's a new male in the pride, all lion cubs are at risk, regardless of their
04:39gender, and this is perfectly normal from an evolutionary standpoint.
04:43When male lions take over, they almost always kill other lion cubs, as they're not biologically
04:48related.
04:49In short, lions can't become stepfathers.
04:52Also, females can't mate while they're nursing their young, which means cubs need
04:57to be eliminated.
04:58How do lionesses feel about this?
05:00I think they do care, but on the other hand, such is the life of a lion.
05:05There are always some aggressive males around to ruin everything.
05:08African lionesses usually just deal with that, but one female Asiatic lion named FLG10 found
05:14an unexpected solution to the problem.
05:16She mated with males from every coalition that entered her territory to reorder to hide
05:21the identity of the father, and it worked.
05:24None of the FLG10 cubs were killed because every adult lion thought they were his kids.
05:29Later, scientists even found out that other Asiatic lionesses also use a similar way of
05:34protecting offspring.
05:36Their cubs survive, but then the males still have to leave the pride in order to start
05:40living on their own, just like African lions.
05:43So the lion was banished from his territory, but lived through it, licked his wounds.
05:48Now he needs to find a teammate.
05:50The thing is, a lion simply needs to eat about 20 pounds of meat every day.
05:55Let's say you can subdue your appetite a little and eat less, but the less you eat,
05:58the weaker you are.
05:59And a weak lion is a dead lion.
06:02So you need to hunt large prey.
06:05It's easier to catch something small, of course, at least that's safer.
06:09But the energy a lion expends on hunting, for example, a mouse, won't be replenished
06:13by this very mouse.
06:15To hunt for something big and nutritious, you need a teammate.
06:18Male lions rarely wander alone.
06:20The rivalry for prides, or simply for the area, is so fierce that all male lions band
06:25together to protect each other.
06:27When virtually everyone around you, from other lions to your dinner, wants to kill you, you
06:32need someone to stand by your side.
06:35It's good if such lone lions find each other, but they can't just stop and live somewhere
06:39near their old prides under a bush.
06:41They need to move forward to avoid the attack.
06:43This is how their wandering begins.
06:46Lone lions have to really move a lot.
06:48To date, scientists have evidence that one male lion covered 136 miles in about a month.
06:54This is more than a walk from London to, for example, Birmingham.
06:59Don't forget that along the way, you'll constantly have to fend off dangers and catch prey.
07:04Hunting in foreign territory is a quest not everyone can handle.
07:07When you're a lion looking for prey in a familiar area, you know for sure where buffalo like
07:12to graze, where antelopes go to drink water, and where zebras rest.
07:17This hunting is quite comfortable because you know your prey.
07:21Where would you go in an unfamiliar land?
07:23Where would you get food?
07:25However, even in familiar territory and being part of the pride, lions move quite a lot.
07:30Scientists have even figured out that this is something like a strategy.
07:34Lions kill their prey, like a zebra, and next time they visit another spot, for example
07:39to hunt an antelope.
07:40This is because zebras will be on guard right after the attack, which means it'll be more
07:45difficult to catch them.
07:46But if you wait a bit?
07:48It sounds a little ridiculous, but this tactic really works.
07:52But back to our lion in exile.
07:53Now he has a teammate, and they need to get food.
07:56I shall say that lions aren't actually the most successful hunters on the planet.
08:01According to statistics, lions successfully capture prey only in 25% of cases.
08:07And this is the best case scenario.
08:09Of course, that's not so bad compared to, for example, polar bears.
08:13Their odds of a successful kill are only 10%, but the polar bear doesn't compete with lions,
08:19unlike African wild dogs with an 85% successful kill rate.
08:24Keep in mind that 25% success rate is achieved only when the lion hunts in a group, and the
08:29bigger it is, the better.
08:31If he's alone, the probability of success generally drops to 15%.
08:35That's approximately 1 successful hunt out of 7.
08:39He needs to try really hard to survive like this.
08:42In addition, lionesses usually hunt in prides more than 90% of the time.
08:46If you watch them, you start thinking the males do nothing at all.
08:49Well, they lie, eat, sometimes they fight, but mostly they just lie.
08:54But the lions aren't so useless.
08:56If they didn't do anything at all, the lionesses would have learned to cope on their own a
08:59long time ago.
09:01Males have other tasks, to mark the territory of the pride, patrol it, and guard it.
09:06The males even sometimes look after the cubs while their mothers hunt, and make sure all
09:10the cubs have enough food.
09:12Lions and lionesses are simply built different, so they got different roles.
09:16Males are smaller and lighter, which means they're more agile and faster.
09:20Plus they have more stamina.
09:21Males on the contrary are heavier and get tired faster.
09:25But lions are stronger than lionesses.
09:27By the way, that's why lions can be used for hunting when the pride needs to catch
09:30someone really big.
09:32All duties between the lions are shared so that the pride lives with maximum comfort.
09:37But there's one place on earth where all the laws of lion societies aren't applicable.
09:42And it turns out that prides aren't that essential.
09:45Here in the deserts of northern Kenya, lions live alone.
09:49The lionesses don't leave their cubs to nannies.
09:52Instead, little lions follow their mothers everywhere and can get food on their own already
09:56at the age of three months.
09:58At the same time, males don't even try to mess around.
10:01They're active, successful hunters who are in no way inferior to females.
10:05And by the way, since I mentioned the different skills of females and males, it's worth
10:09saying that the hunting strategy of lions is different from that of lionesses.
10:14While most of the pride attacks together, hunting down and chasing their prey down,
10:18males prefer to hide in some bushes and sit there.
10:21Lions wait for prey, which they can then ambush.
10:24Yes, it doesn't sound like a solid strategy, but it works.
10:28Though it only works as long as you live with the pride.
10:31Exiled lions begin to act in a different way.
10:34As I said before, they just need teammates to handle large prey.
10:38So the males band together, and this is the only way they can catch something nutritious.
10:43Like an elephant.
10:44It usually takes seven lionesses to take down one elephant, but two males can do the
10:49same thing.
10:50Which means that for elephants, lions are more dangerous than lionesses.
10:55And yes, I found something to prove this theory.
10:58Karen McComb from the University of Sussex found that older matriarchs, the females who
11:03lead herds of elephants, realize the threat lions pose.
11:06If they hear recordings of male roars, they're more likely to usher their herd into a defensive
11:11formation.
11:12The reaction to lionesses is more calm.
11:15It's all about the experience.
11:16The older the female elephant, the better she knows who might not be so dangerous, and
11:21who they need to get away from quickly.
11:23Unlike buffaloes, it'd seem that these guys are smaller than elephants and should stay
11:28away from lions, but they don't.
11:30Sometimes buffaloes even attack lions without any reason.
11:34The sleeping lions.
11:36Of course, exiled males are the easiest targets for them.
11:39But what can he do, this lone lion?
11:41It all depends on how desperate he is.
11:43In the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, a hungry, lone lion attacked an adult female
11:49buffalo, and their battle lasted an hour.
11:52A fierce battle, during which both opponents got many injuries and were so exhausted that
11:57they couldn't even retreat.
11:59Eventually, another buffalo came to help the female, and she managed to escape.
12:03The lion crawled into the bushes to lick his wounds, but he died two days later.
12:09And two weeks later, his opponent also died after getting an infection.
12:13Did the lone lion have a chance?
12:15Yes, albeit a very, very small chance, but he had to take a risk.
12:19The lion would definitely not take down a porcupine.
12:23It seems strange that some kind of slow, prickly rodent is stronger than the king of beasts.
12:29But it just so happens that porcupines always win the fights with lions, despite the difference
12:34in size.
12:36Imagine 40 pounds versus 400.
12:38Still, the quills do their job.
12:41Scientists estimate that between 1960 and 2016, at least 50 lions were injured or even
12:47killed by porcupines.
12:49It's surprisingly a lot.
12:50Again, we have here a rodent versus a lion.
12:54Of course, young lions are the ones who suffer most often.
12:58Most likely, adults simply know this animal is prickly and inedible.
13:02Not worth the trouble.
13:03But the most surprising thing is the consequences caused by fights between lions and porcupines.
13:09In 1965, a lion known as the Man-Eater of Dharanjani was killed.
13:14When scientists examined it, they were amazed.
13:17A porcupine quill was stuck deep in the lion's nose.
13:22It penetrated more than six inches into it, nearly piercing the brain.
13:26This quill made hunting hard.
13:28As a result, the lion suffered from exhaustion and couldn't think of anything better than
13:33to switch to the easiest prey on his menu.
13:36A human.
13:38And this isn't the only case like that.
13:40At some point, the exiled lion may indeed face a choice.
13:44Sometimes lone lions become man-eaters.
13:46But there could be many reasons for this.
13:49It's usually a combination of several factors that make the life of a lion unbearable.
13:53For example, serious injuries due to which predators can't hunt their usual prey.
13:58For example, issues with teeth.
14:01Lions rely heavily on them when hunting.
14:03A broken fang or even a broken jaw, and that's it.
14:06The lion can no longer properly clench its jaws to grab prey.
14:11And humans are much softer than some kind of gazelle, they have no fur, and they don't
14:15run as fast.
14:17Another possible cause of man-eating is drought.
14:20The number of prey is shrinking, it's getting harder to find lunch, and humans don't depend
14:25that much on the weather.
14:28But there's another reason.
14:30Sometimes lions just like the taste of human flesh.
14:34Now that sounds really creepy.
14:36Moreover, scientists say that one lion can teach another to hunt people.
14:40While it's easier for females to curb this bad habit, males usually have real problems.
14:45They simply can't stop.
14:47This of course doesn't mean that every single male who attacked a human becomes a man-eater,
14:52but there is still a risk.
14:54But the worst case scenario is when a whole pride of males and females begin to feed on
15:00people.
15:01This is a permanent, terrible threat to every person who lives nearby.
15:06And here's a fact that still surprises me, although I learned about it quite a long time
15:10ago.
15:11The attacks of lions on people depend on the phase of the moon.
15:16No mysticism, there's a scientific reason behind this.
15:20See for yourself.
15:22Lions hunt mainly at night.
15:24The darker it is, the more successful they are, which means they can eat more.
15:28The darkest nights are before the new moon, and at this time the lions eat their fill.
15:34But when the moon is large and shines brightly, getting close to the usual prey is difficult.
15:38And humans, well you already get it, humans are something like the easiest lunch option
15:44for the lions, like fast food from a nearby diner.
15:47When there are no humans around on a full moon, lions, well they just eat less.
15:52But even leaving the effect of the moon aside, the problems will not go away.
15:57Another obstacle in the way of the lions is the weather.
15:59I already said that due to drought, lions can become man-eaters.
16:04But these of course are extreme measures.
16:07Usually during the dry season, the usual lion prey scatters in different directions in search
16:11of food and water.
16:13Lions have to follow the prey, and as a result, they find themselves outside their territory,
16:18on someone else's turf.
16:20And where there's someone else's turf, there are also those who protect it.
16:25So the drought results in the lions constantly fighting other lions.
16:29And sometimes humans.
16:31Because of the drought, predators are more likely to attack livestock, plus farmers also
16:36try to take their animals closer to water sources.
16:39In short, the territory suddenly turns out to be too small for lions and people to get
16:44along on it at the same time.
16:47Drought causes serious conflicts.
16:50In Namibia alone, between 2013 and 2015, 27 lions were killed for raiding livestock.
16:57But strictly speaking, drought also has advantages.
17:01It seems strange, but still, herbivores, which usually make up the lion's menu, become weaker
17:06during a drought, which means it's easier to hunt them.
17:10In contrast, lions are better adapted and can get moisture from meat.
17:14To stay away from the lions, herbivores begin to graze at the hottest time of the day, and
17:19it really helps.
17:20Only because of high temperatures, herbivores simply lose their ability to fight back predators.
17:25They become easy, vulnerable prey.
17:29Turns out that on the one hand, drought creates problems for lions, and on the other hand,
17:33it helps them.
17:35And even farmers killing lions have no effect.
17:38Over the past seven years, the number of desert lions in Namibia has only increased during
17:42severe droughts.
17:44That's the paradox.
17:46Although if you look at it from an evolutionary standpoint, it becomes a little clearer.
17:51Drought weeds out the weakest individuals, which means that only the animals most resistant
17:55and adapted to harsh conditions will survive.
17:58They pass on their genetic material, so we got more resilient lions.
18:04The opposite of drought is the rainy season.
18:06And if I were a lion, I'd hate this period.
18:10A large amount of water turns the territory into a squelching swamp, which is why lions
18:15get sick more often and sometimes die.
18:18What about food?
18:19I've already said that during a drought, the prey scatters in different directions,
18:23and the lions have to follow it.
18:25But at the same time, the potential dinner still tries to stay near the source of water.
18:30Now imagine that instead of one water source, you have, I don't know, ten of them.
18:35Quite a normal situation for the rainy season.
18:38Where would a hungry lion go?
18:41By the time you find prey, you'll be exhausted and all wet.
18:46But even if the lions can handle all this, even if the weather conditions are just perfect,
18:50there are always other dangers.
18:53It's difficult to hunt alone, especially if you're used to the fact that females used
18:58to hunt for you.
18:59That's why males gather in bands, just not to starve to death.
19:03But if lions hunt in regions full of prey, they're bound to run into other territorial
19:09Lions who also want to eat and aren't going to share their food.
19:13This causes serious conflicts.
19:16And by serious, I mean that the most natural cause of death for a lion is another lion.
19:21Yes, that's what the experts say.
19:24What's considered a crime in the human world is the most common order of things in the
19:28wild.
19:29Yes, there are often fights between lone lions.
19:32Of course, it makes more sense for them to unite in order to survive.
19:36But hey, these are lions, predators, they don't always act super logically.
19:41Sometimes they just need to fight over some dead wildebeest.
19:44Oh, and don't forget climate change and habitat loss.
19:48The human population is growing.
19:50More and more land is being used for agriculture.
19:53It's believed that over the past 20 years, the population of African lions has declined
19:57by about a third.
19:59And of course, don't forget about poachers.
20:02Poachers are always active regardless of the weather or the phase of the moon.
20:06The forecast of some scientists looks quite sad.
20:09They say that within 20 years, we're going to lose another half of the lion population.
20:14But the most interesting thing is that no one knows exactly how many lions live in the
20:18wild today.
20:20Their numbers are dwindling, that's a fact.
20:23And because of this, it's incredibly difficult to count them.
20:27Lions are rarely seen hiding from people.
20:30You can spot a pride, but a lone lion?
20:33And yet, our lion survived.
20:36Several years have passed and he starts preparing for his return.
20:40Remember how at the beginning of his journey, he had to choose between hunting every little
20:44thing and taking risks?
20:46Now the lion already has enough strength and experience to hunt even a giraffe.
20:51Seriously.
20:52In Calegate Transfrontier Park, two lions attacked a giraffe that weighed about six
20:57times their own weight.
20:59To hell with the weight, check out the difference in size.
21:02No really.
21:03Looking at these pictures, I just can't believe that such a hunt could have been successful.
21:08But they nailed it.
21:09Two lone lions killed a giraffe, and of course they ate well.
21:13That's how much their strength and stamina grew.
21:16They must have upgraded their agility as well.
21:19You'd need that to jump on a giraffe like this.
21:21Well, a giraffe is a lot of tasty, nutritious meat.
21:25Meat gives the lion strength, and a strong lion can do a lot.
21:30How about attacking a hippo?
21:32A lone lion who's just been banished from the pride would have died on the spot.
21:36But this one did it.
21:38This one knows exactly what he's doing.
21:40And he knows that the time has come to take over the pride.
21:44Can a lion return to his family from which he once was banished?
21:48No.
21:49Not because the lion isn't strong enough.
21:52It's just like that in real life.
21:54Things not like in Disney movies.
21:56The male who took over the pride mates with all his females.
21:59But if this is his native pride, then among those females, there'll be his mother, sisters,
22:05aunts.
22:06Well, this promises no biological diversity, only genetic diseases and other nasty stuff.
22:12So lions never return to their prides.
22:15But they don't have to.
22:17Because there are plenty of other prides around.
22:19On average, it takes a lion about three years to gain strength.
22:24Two-year-old males become exiles, but at the age of five, they're ready to win back
22:28a new territory and females.
22:31Does this mean that they will definitely succeed?
22:34Of course not.
22:36There are plenty of stories about failed attempts.
22:39Here just for example is the Masai Mara Game Reserve.
22:42A lone lion approached the cubs with the clear intention of getting rid of them, but the
22:46lionesses almost ate him alive.
22:49Then the males also joined the fight.
22:52Well, the guy had to flee.
22:54Takeover failed.
22:55Actually, as I've already said, the main job of the male is to protect the pride from such
23:00uninvited guests.
23:02They have to fight almost all the time, again, and again, and again.
23:09No wonder they got no energy left for hunting.
23:12In the end, the males get so tired, they give up their position to younger and stronger
23:16strangers while they retreat to a solitary lifestyle.
23:21Or band together in coalitions.
23:24To be honest, before making this video, I didn't know lions could live like that.
23:29But the story of the Mapogo Coalition from the beginning of the video deserves a movie
23:33adaptation.
23:34If instead of a remake of The Lion King, they made a movie about these guys, it could become
23:39a great action movie.
23:41Or a thriller.
23:42What's the usual circle of life?
23:44There's a pride, there's an old male, there's a new male who drives him away, and so on.
23:49But the Mapogo Coalition was a real gang.
23:52These males owned a huge territory and killed more than a hundred lions and cubs in about
23:57a year.
23:58At its peak, the coalition consisted of six males, leader Makulu, Rasta, Scar, Pretty
24:05Boy, Kinky Tail, and Mr. T. All except Makulu were siblings.
24:11He was considered something like a half-brother and was older than the other lions.
24:15In 2006, six young males left their pride and were forced to fend for themselves.
24:20By sticking together, they increased their chances of survival and soon learned to be
24:25very successful hunters.
24:28So successful that they began to take over other prides.
24:31Killing cubs.
24:32That's the usual way it goes.
24:35But Mr. T also ate some lion cubs.
24:37I don't know why he would do that.
24:40With all competitors eliminated, the Mapogo Coalition successfully controlled eight prides.
24:46Eight!
24:47Still, maintaining control over such a large area was challenging.
24:51The lions were constantly fighting among themselves.
24:55In the end, Kinky Tail and Mr. T had to leave.
24:58I told what happened next at the beginning of the video.
25:01Kinky Tail died and Mr. T reunited with the Mapogo Coalition.
25:06It continued to thrive for about two more years until poachers and another coalition,
25:11which killed Mr. T, got in the way.
25:14Only in 2012, six years after its foundation, the Mapogo Coalition ceased to exist.
25:21Other strong predators took over.
25:23And this is the very circle of life in which lions exist.
25:27The cycle will be repeated again and again.
25:31And now a new young lion is exiled from the pride.
25:35Hope things work out for you, buddy!
25:37See ya later!
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