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A lioness licking her cub shares a quiet, loving moment with her little one. Download the free PDF and take your time coloring this tender portrait.
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Download PDFPrintA close-up of a lioness with closed eyes licking a relaxed cub, with rocks, tufts of grass and an acacia tree behind.
Blend soft shades on the faces to bring out their calm expressions.
Share three ways the people who love you take care of you.
A lioness is pregnant for about three and a half months.
A lioness licking her cub may be cleaning it, caring for it and showing affection all at once. Grooming is one of the most common behaviors in a lion's life, and it does far more than keep a coat tidy.
Its most practical purpose is hygiene. A lion's tongue is covered in tiny hard spines that point backward and work like a brush. A mother can use them to remove dirt, leftover food and parasites such as ticks. With newborns there's an added benefit. Licking stimulates digestion and keeps the den clean, cutting down on smells that could attract other animals.
Licking is also a form of communication. Lions tend to groom the places another animal can't reach alone, like the head and neck, so they rely on one another. Those exchanges strengthen bonds between mothers, young, sisters and companions, which is essential for a species that depends so much on its group.
For a cub, these sessions double as a lesson. Through touch, it learns to recognize its family, feel safe and get along with others in the pride. Before long it will repeat the same gesture with its brothers and sisters, and years later with young of its own.
