Fully grown adult male lions are the kings of the jungle for a reason. Powerful, agile, and weighing anywhere from 260 to 420 pounds, male lions are responsible for defending their pride from anyone, or anything, that may be deemed a threat.
Sometimes that threat comes in the form of a lion cub. Male lions are often hesitant to accept new cubs into their pride, and go to great lengths to ensure the cubs are indeed one of their own. Males who suspect the cubs are not their actual offspring have been known to kill them in order to keep everything in the family. In fact, the likelihood of survival for a male lion cub is only 1 in 8. Needless to say, when this lioness introduces her cubs to the males of the pride she is nervous, but their fate is out of her control. The adult male is way too powerful for her to get in his way, so she must reluctantly sit and hope. Watching the male interact with the cubs had me holding my breath the entire time, but the happy ending reminded me just how dangerously beautiful life in the wild can be.
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