The only big cat that shares
Why Do Lions Live in Groups?
Every other big cat hunts alone. Lions live in families of ten or twenty, and that changes everything about how they eat.
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Step 1 of 5
Open grass has nowhere to hide.
A single lion on the plain has lost the hunt before it starts A tiger creeps through trees and gets within a few steps before anything notices. On flat grassland there is no cover, so a single lion is spotted long before it is close enough to pounce.
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Step 2 of 5
So they surround it instead.
Several lionesses spread wide and walk in from different sides. The prey runs from the ones it can see and straight towards the ones it cannot — the hiding place is another lion.
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Step 3 of 5
Together they can take something huge.
One lion can bring down a small antelope. Five working together can bring down a buffalo many times heavier than any of them, and that one animal feeds the whole group.
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Step 4 of 5
The mane is a shield and a sign.
Only males grow one. It thickens the neck where a rival bites first, and its size and darkness advertise how healthy he is — a lot of fights are settled by looking, not fighting.
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Step 5 of 5
Cubs are raised by everyone.
Females in a group often have cubs at about the same time, and they will feed each other's. A cub that loses its mother is not automatically lost, which is unusual among cats.
Lionesses do most of the hunting, but the males do the fighting that keeps other groups off the land the herds cross.
The short version
Lions live in groups because open grassland rewards surrounding prey together over sneaking up on it alone.
Try it yourself
Play tag in an open field, then in a garden full of bushes. Catching someone alone is much easier where there is cover.