African lion infanticide

Male African lion (Panthera Leo) makes off with a cub whilst the lioness tries in vain to intervene. This solitary nomadic female was nursing her single cub when an immigrating male arrived. The lioness was initially unaware of his presence and made an effort to greet him in a submissive way. The male ignored her and immediately pounced on the cub, which resulted in the lioness in turn attacking the male. He was however too strong and made off with the cub. Infanticide is common in lions and males often resort to killing cubs which are not their own. It is a reproductive strategy used by males to prevent females from investing effort in the offspring of other males and speeding up the return of the female to sexual receptivity. Photographed in the Kgalagadi transfrontier park in Southern Africa., Photo by TONY CAMACHO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY