17. EXCERPTS IX: How Lions Avoid Overpopulation
The lone male has a harder task to overcome in achieving pride status; he must first seek out and choose one or more unrelated coalition mates. Then the coalition must act in unison in challenging resident pride. With greater obstacles to overcome in attacking and defeating the pride, it is likely that this lone male needs to be individually genetically superior on average to the coalitions of relatives so that the balance of intrinsic skill versus the greater resources of the large groups can be restored. The capture of pride is only the beginning of the hurdles that lie ahead for a lion if he is to be successful in siring and supporting cubs to adulthood. The males compete for the chance to mate and in some instances, the fittest individual nearly monopolizes parenthood. This leaves the unsuccessful competitors with the role of helpers in supporting the lion family. The success of the pride in producing the next generation depends on its ability to ward off attacks from other marauding coalitions of males from the time of birth of the cubs to their maturity. Since the average tenure of pride is barely long enough to achieve this, only the more precocious coalitions can expect to be successful. The rewards for the lion of residence in pride in comparison with his bachelor status are considerable; not only does he potentially gain access to females for mating, but he also is able to rely on the lionesses to do the hunting while he has primary access to the kill. The habit of the lions in killing juveniles, previously present in the pride at the time of capture, causes the lionesses to re-enter their reproductive cycle. This book has not given much emphasis to the antithesis of sociality, which is not so much asociality as it is antisociality or territoriality. Lions, together with other felids and many other species, take active steps to exclude others from their range by advertising their boundaries vocally or through the release of signals from scent glands that they rub against trees or bushes. When considered in terms of the social gene, the antipathy towards others, especially of the same gender, would be considered a penalty imposed when another animal approaches. The response to an intrusion is to take steps to remove this penalty either by moving away from the vicinity of the object or by removing the object. The latter option entails some risk but, if it is successful, the subject will retain its territory. However, the proximity penalty or reward is fluid and will depend on the circumstances of the encounter. (p. 152) This is not pretty but is a good example of the many ways that the genetics of sociality should be estimated, not by expectations, but by the actual consequences of the traits. The harsh treatment of juveniles by adults might be considered unnecessarily draconian, but it is the group that benefits from this action. Different species adopt different approaches to avoid overpopulation; many carnivores, primates, and birds restrict reproduction by confining reproduction to males and females that have achieved alpha status. Humans have not developed this capacity. Read the full article