Lioness walk with her cute lion cubs in the jungle

Lionesses in pride often have cubs around the same time as each other. They look after them in a group, known as a ‘crèche’. This helps to keep them safe from predators – meat-eating animals, such as other lions and tigers – and also large animals such as elephant and buffalo.

Lionesses can also control when they have cubs. If there is not enough food around to feed a hungry mouth, a lioness will wait until there is before giving birth.

Young cubs drink milk from their mother’s teats. It is good for them and helps them to grow quickly. At around two to three months, they begin to eat meat as well with their small milk teeth.

These are their ‘baby teeth’. Like humans, lions are born without teeth. They grow small ones when still very young, which are then replaced with adult teeth as they get older.

At six to seven months old, cubs stop drinking milk altogether. By the time they have reached two years of age, they don’t need their mothers to look after them anymore.