Why do female lions bite male lions in the balls

  • A lion lost a testicle after he tried to steal food from cubs and a pride of lionesses attacked him for his blunder
  • Mandevo the lion tried to swipe a buffalo kill from the new mothers but was taken down by the lionesses
  • During the cat fight in Maasai Mara, southwestern Kenya, Mandevo suffered a nasty bite to his genitals
  • It left the lion in considerable pain and later vets decided they would have to remove one of its testicles
  • Gren Sowerby, 71, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, saw the fight and said the lion's howl was 'like an F1 car'
  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Published: 12:44 BST, 24 January 2022 | Updated: 14:04 BST, 24 January 2022

Advertisement

This lion upset a pride of lionesses and lost a testicle for his trouble after they pounced on him for trying to take food from their young.

Mandevo the lion tried to swipe a buffalo kill from the new mothers, not realising it was meant for their 11-strong brood of cubs. 

Mandevo suffered a nasty bite to his genitals during the fight in Maasai Mara, Kenya, that left vets no choice but to remove one of his testicles.

Photographer Gren Sowerby captured the cat fight on camera, allowing him to raise the alert rangers who moved in to administer veterinary treatment.

Mr Sowerby, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, regularly visits the area to photograph the animals. 

The 71-year-old said: 'The roar was like an F1 car! He laid down and licked himself.

'We were surprised but have seen this behaviour before. We saw the damage done to him.' 

If Mr Sowerby and his team had not seen what happened, Mandevo may not have received urgent treatment for his injury. 

He added: 'The rangers sent a vet out from the Nairobi Elephant Orphanage.

'He did surgery on him and he is now recovering in the wild where they will monitor him.' 

A lion lost a testicle after he tried to steal food from cubs and a pride of lionesses attacked him (pictured) for his blunder

The lion was no match for the lionesses protecting their 11 cubs. The animals were soon embroiled in a vicious fight

Mandevo the lion was left with a bite to his genitals that needed attention from vets, who decided they needed to remove one of his testicles

The lion got into the scrap after he tried to pinch a buffalo kill from the new mothers that was intended for the 11 newborns

The battle was spotted by determined photographer Gren Sowerby, 71, in Maasai Mara, in the south west of Kenya

The lionesses were snapped with blood around their mouths during the brutal fight, in which they pinned the lion down

Mr Sowerby, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, regularly visits this area of East African country Kenya to photograph animals 

Lion loses a TESTICLE after lionesses attack him for trying to steal their food

Though the female is usually observed initiating the mating with growling vocalizations, there is no evidence to suggest that lionesses will bite the male on the balls to get things going. That part appears to have started as a joke, before being passed on as "fact", as is the way of the Internet.

Why do lions bite when they mate?

Lions are the only cat species that mate face-to-face, and they often bite each other on the neck. The reason for this unusual behavior is unknown. One theory states that lions evolved to mate in such a way as to make it difficult for another lion to interrupt them during mating, but some experts disagree.

What does it mean when a lioness licks a lion?

Lionesses use licking to strengthen social bonds. PLOS ONE, Tomoyuki Matoba, Nobuyuki Kutsukake, Toshikazu Hasegawa, Sept. 5, 2013 Lions nuzzle their pride members not just to look cute, but also to strengthen social bonds, according to a new study of this adorable behavior.

Why do female lions hunt male lions?

The lionesses serve to provide for the pride and the males that are dominant over that pride. This is certainly the truth. Lionesses will hunt and kill prey to provide for their pride. There is even a pecking order within the pride when the males are present.

Why do lions kick out male cubs?

Wild male lions will also typically chase off any male cubs when they grow up to ensure they are alone with the pride lionesses. Sometimes the lions will kill cubs - usually when they take over new territory from another pride - to stake their claim on the females.

This Lion Couple Mates Over 100 Times a Day

Do male lions mate with their daughters?

A single male might often not be in control for long enough to mate with his grown daughters. Females do not only mate with the leader of their pride, but mate sometimes with males from outside of the pride.

Can 2 male lions mate?

"Male lions “mating” with other males is not an altogether uncommon occurrence," the told Traveller24. "This behaviour is often seen as a way of asserting dominance over another male, or a way of reinforcing their social bonds. Lions' social structures can be a complex system," he says.

Why are male lions so useless?

“The male lion has a reputation for being a useless layabout, that he doesn't really contribute much to the family,” says Packer. He spends most of the day napping; he takes little part in caring for the youngsters and doesn't even help the females to hunt for food.

Is Lioness stronger than lion?

Female lions, called lionesses, are actually stronger runners and better hunters than male lions are! Male lions lie around a lot, and get the females to do all the work for them. You are right, though, by thinking that there are no other animals that hunt and eat lions.

How lions choose their mate?

How do lions select a partner? Selection may be initiated by either member of the pair who remains close during the period of a female's fertility. The female usually invites the male to have intercourse by assuming a position known as lordosis. There is little competition amongst pride males during mating.

Do female lions mate with each other?

Females are receptive to mating for three or four days within a widely variable reproductive cycle. During this time a pair generally mates every 20–30 minutes, with up to 50 copulations per 24 hours.

Which part of lion is very sensitive?

A lion's vision is roughly six times more sensitive to light than humans, giving them a distinct advantage when hunting at night. Lion's claws are retractable, reaching up to 1 ½ inches in length, allowing for the tremendous control when it needs to go in for a kill.

Do lions kiss each other?

Lions use licking and nuzzling as a way to strengthen social bonds, which is to say, male lions will nuzzle other male lions in order to make sure that when another coalition of lions comes along, the social bond is intact enough for all lions to hold their ranks instead of scurrying off and letting the rest of the ...

Do female animals want to mate?

Females clearly don't try to avoid sex altogether, but they do generally mate the minimum number of times necessary to fertilise all their eggs or to gain other benefits. For instance, many female insects mate with multiple males because the males bribe them with nutritious food or other gifts.

Which animals mate for longest time?

1. Brown antechinus. For two weeks every mating season, a male will mate as much as physically possible, sometimes having sex for up to 14 hours at a time, flitting from one female to the next.

Who runs faster lion or lioness?

Did you know that lionesses are around 30% faster than male lions according to Stefan Pociask who is a Wildlife researcher from the USA? A lioness can reach speeds of up to 70km per hour, which is around 20km per hour faster than her male counterpart!

Do female lions eat first?

The strongest male lion will eat first, followed by other members of the pride. Lionesses will feed themselves first, with cubs getting the scraps.

Are female lions lazy?

Not in the laziness, but in the fact that lionesses do hunt more, and the males do use their extra bulk and power to help themselves to the spoils of the females' efforts.

Does a female lion protect the male?

To satisfy a carnivorous diet made up of mammals like wildebeest, zebra, buffalo, impala, (and sometimes rhinos, hippos, and elephants when food is scarce), females are tasked with hunting while the males patrol and protect the pride's territory.

Do female lions lead pride?

Prides of lions are run by females, but there's no queen.

Prides are run by generations of females who own and defend a territory together. Males, on the other hand, leave home around two or three years old and join forces to conquer a new pride, fighting other males and establishing a hierarchy.

Can tigers mate lions?

Although lions and tigers may mate in the wild, they are separated by geography and behaviour, and thus all known ligers stem from accidental mating between lions and tigers as well as from directed breeding efforts that have occurred while in captivity.

How do lion prides avoid incest?

In lions, prides are often followed by related males in bachelor groups. When the dominant male is killed or driven off by one of these bachelors, a father may be replaced by his son. There is no mechanism for preventing inbreeding or to ensure outcrossing. In the prides, most lionesses are related to one another.

Can a lion and a dog mate?

× Panthera leo [Lion] There appear to be no reliable reports of dog-lion hybrids, but Aristotle (On the Generation of Animals 747b33-36) states the following: “a dog differs in species from a lion, and the offspring of a male dog and a female lion is different in species.”

Why do lioness lick their cubs?

Mothers licking their newborns remove the afterbirth and clean their young, thus removing the telltale scent of labor. This helps keep predators from smelling and targeting the newborn.

Why do lions bite during mating?

Lions are the only cat species that mate face-to-face, and they often bite each other on the neck. The reason for this unusual behavior is unknown. One theory states that lions evolved to mate in such a way as to make it difficult for another lion to interrupt them during mating, but some experts disagree.

Do lionesses mate 20 40 times a day?

Females are receptive to mating for three or four days within a widely variable reproductive cycle. During this time a pair generally mates every 20–30 minutes, with up to 50 copulations per 24 hours.

What do female lions do when in heat?

When a lioness is in heat, a male will join her, staying with her constantly. The pair usually mates for less than a minute, but it does so about every 15 to 30 minutes over a period of four to five days.

Why do male lions bite female lions?

"When male lions take over a new pride they can be extremely insistent on mating with any adult female that they assume should be reproductively active," Dr Funston explained to us via email. It's possible that this male had been courting the lioness for some time and became aggressive when she refused his advances.