50 Times a Day for Days
When a female lion is in heat, she may mate with the male up to 50 times per day for 4-5 days straight — totaling 200+ copulations.
Lions are the marathon champions of the big cat world. When a lioness enters estrus (heat), the mating pair essentially stops everything else for nearly a week.
The numbers are staggering: - Mating every 15-20 minutes - Up to 50 times per day - For 4-5 consecutive days - Total: 200+ copulations per estrus cycle
Each individual mating lasts only about 20 seconds, but the cumulative time is enormous. During this period, the pair: - Barely eats - Doesn't hunt - Stays isolated from the pride - Often becomes irritable and aggressive
Why so much? Lion reproduction is surprisingly inefficient. Despite all this mating, only about 1 in 5 estrus cycles results in pregnancy. Multiple copulations increase the chances of fertilization.
There's also a darker reason: infanticide. When a new male takes over a pride, he often kills existing cubs to bring females back into heat faster. By mating so intensively when she does conceive, a female ensures the new male believes the cubs are his, reducing the risk he'll kill them.
The male's motivation is simpler: keep mating to ensure it's *his* sperm that fertilizes her, not a rival's.