The lion is the most social of all felids, setting them apart from all other great cats. Life in the pride is, for the most part, a tactile experience with a great deal of social grooming and rubbing of heads and bodies. The pride, which varies in size from as few as four individuals to as many as 40, is composed of a group of often related lionesses, their offspring and one to six nomadic males who have fought their way to dominance. These newly "installed" dominate males generally kill, and often consume, all of the cubs belonging to the previous males, presumably to enhance the chances of survival for any cubs they sire. Within a week or two, the lionesses respond to the absence of cubs by coming into season and maiting with the dominate male(s). The members of a lion pride are sometimes scattered in several groups throughout the pride's range. The size of these groups, sometimes called "companionships" or "subprides" is influenced by a number of ecological and social factors including the availibility and size of prey species. A pride will range over an area of between 10 and 175 square miles, often overlapping the range of neighboring prides, depending mostly on the movement and abundance of prey. The core of the female oriented pride are the lionesses, who's association is based on matriarchal continuity. Lionesses not only assume the responsibility of hunting for the group but also care for the offspring, who suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. Except for fighting over the right to feed at a kill, where male lions are the first to eat with the females and cubs initially sidelined, pride members get along harmoniously, displaying warm signs of affection by rubbing heads and cheeks when the greet one another and licking one anothers faces after feeding. The resident male lion(s) breeds with the females when they are in season, and contributes to the pride by maintaining stability by protecting the entire group from dangerous intruders. Again, Thank you for your comments!! I wish to thank you all ahead of time for viewing my postings; I just hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy wandering and using my camera! Thanks for taking a peek and commenting