For the first time in our 4 year long project, all of our collared female lions are raising kittens! It seems that a real birth pulse has occurred this summer, with most of our females giving birth in July and August.
19F’s new kitten (photo by Justine Smith)
By now, you have met 23F’s kittens, but we wanted to introduce you to the rest of the growing family!
7f – 2 nine month old kittens
10f – unknown # 4 month old kittens
25f – unknown number of 5 month old kittens
23f – 3 four month old kittens
11f – at least one kitten, born in July
28f – kittens born in July (killed by 26M)*
19f – at least one kitten born last month
29f – at least one kitten born last month
10f – unknown # 4 month old kittens
25f – unknown number of 5 month old kittens
23f – 3 four month old kittens
11f – at least one kitten, born in July
28f – kittens born in July (killed by 26M)*
19f – at least one kitten born last month
29f – at least one kitten born last month
19F’s new kitten
* While it may seem cruel that males kill kittens, it makes sense evolutionarily. Adult male pumas only have a short window in which to breed, because it is very difficult for them to hang on to a territory. They can lose at any time to a challenging male and also have to watch for any sneaker males who hide out in their territories and mate with females. If male pumas waited around for females to raise another male’s progeny, they might have to wait more than 12-18 months. By that time, there might be a new alpha male in town.