- Lion cubs were learning hunting skills with their mother to prepare them up for life as an adult in the wild
- They were snapped on the Zimanga Game Reserve, South Africa by wildlife photographer Anne Laing, 59
- Only one in eight cubs survives until adulthood and they usually stay with the mother until they’re aged two
A pride of lion cubs became embroiled in family feud while honing their hunting skills when play fighting got a little out of hand.
In the series of fascinating images the young lions can be seen digging their claws into one another while trying to drag their target to the ground as they used each other and their mother as ‘bait’.
The snarling expressions they made at one other show they weren’t taking this sibling scrap lightly.
The cubs were snapped imitating the hunt on the Zimanga Game Reserve, South Africa, by wildlife photographer Anne Laing.
Ms Laing, from Pretoria, South Africa, said: ‘The lion cubs play fight as it helps them develop and grow. By running, wrestling and climbing they practise their motor skills and improve co-ordination and physical strength.
‘The majority of cubs don’t survive their first year. The lion cubs will normally stay with the mother learning how to hunt until they are two or three years old.
‘We spent an hour with them while they did some play fighting and had a little rest. When the cubs are first born the mum will hide them from any predators and even her own pride. This usually lasts for at least six weeks.
A pride of lion cubs became honed their hunting skills as they used each other and their mother as ‘bait’. The young lions simulate hunts to set them up for adulthood
They were spotted digging their claws into one another while trying to drag their target to the ground on the Zimanga Game Reserve in South Africa by a wildlife photographer
Anne Laing, from Pretoria, South Africa, said: ‘The lion cubs play fight as it helps them develop and grow. By running, wrestling and climbing they practice their motor skills and improve co-ordination and physical strength’
The 59-year-old had been following the lioness for a while and had a feeling that she had hid her cubs somewhere nearby. Female lions hide their older cubs to protect them from marauding males that might venture into her pride’s territory and to keep them away from other predators like hyenas
The majority of cubs don’t survive their first year and they’ll normally stay with the mother learning how to hunt until they are two or three years old
Ms Laing spent an hour following the big cats while they play-fought with one another before becoming friends again and resting together
She said she felt lucky to have spotted the cubs coming out of the cave because when she returned over the next four days they were nowhere to be found
Two lion cubs pounce on their mother’s back in a joint effort that will be good practice for when they are adults and have to gang up on prey much larger than her
Take that! The snarling expressions the young lions made at one other show they weren’t taking this sibling scrap lightly
One of the cubs bites his mother a little too hard as the adult lion can be seen with a disgruntled facial expression
Play fighting will serve the animals well later in life – as only one in eight will survive into adulthood
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