Lions reproduce from the age of three years on. They don't have a seasonally determined breeding time, but mate as soon as the female is sexually mature. Gestation takes 105 days. Usually two or three cubs are born. Under the hard living conditions of the Kalahari, mortality amongst the cubs is very high.

The Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is known to be the best game reserve in South Africa for lion watching.

Kalahari Lions

The Kalahari lions are not a subspecies of their own, but just particularly well adapted to the desert ecosystem. For example, their fur is lighter than that of lions elsewhere and is an excellent camouflage.

Kalahari lions can go for weeks without drinking water and survive on very few prey. In the vast desert they must fight harder for their food than in other regions, because stalking is made more difficult by the open territory.



Top and bottom: Mating lions. The Kalahari is a paradise for wildlife photographers.