Lions like company. In contrast to other cats which are loners, lions live in groups called prides. The ladies in particular show a close connection to their families: most they all of their life together with their mother, aunts, sisters and daughters. In evolutionary terms, this makes sense; helping to bring up the offspring of a sister secures the survival of her own genes because the sister’s offspring are bearers of them.

Yet a lion’s pride isn’t only a woman's club; it an alpha male, too. He’s responsible for defending the pride’s territory. Male lions who don’t have a pride to live with are either rogue, or spend their time with other bachelor lions.