Though uncommon, maned lionesses have been regularly sighted in the Mombo area of Botswanaās Okavango Delta (including the individual pictured below), where the lion population may carry a genetic disposition toward the phenomenon, according to Luke Hunter, president of the big-cat conservation group Panthera, which collaborates with National Geographicās Big Cats Initiative.
Such masculine females likely occur when the embryo is disrupted, either at conception or while in the womb, he said by email. āIf the former case, the genetic contribution of the spermāwhich determines the sex of the fetus in most mammalsāwas probably aberrant, giving rise to a female with some male characteristics. Alternatively and perhaps more likely, the problem may have occurred during gestation if the fetus was exposed to increased levels of androgensā male hormones such as testosterone.ā
If a lion mother had abnormally high androgens during pregnancy, her female offspring may end up āmasculinizedāāa situation that occurs occasionally in people but which is rarely observed in wild animals.Ā
Whatever the case, such lionesses would likely be infertile but otherwise āperfectly capableā of surviving, Hunter noted. In fact, their manes may actually be a boon to the prideāfor instance, if the female is perceived as a male, she may better defend kills from hyenas or the pride from attacks by foreign males.
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