Instead of all the cubs in a pride being closely related to each other, as is often assumed, they may be a hodgepodge fathered by several different males. I have my doubts, and we're now following the exploits of two males who, rather than challenging resident males for ownership of a pride, roam across hundreds of square kilometres, mating with any receptive female they meet. Only further research will reveal whether such nomads have more offspring than pride males. As humans, we're fascinated by social animals because of the insight they might provide for our own sociality. Lions are often referred to as the only social cats, but those in Botswana are not social in any traditional sense.
Lions are often alone, or when they do form groups, membership can change daily.
An entire pride is rarely together, and within the group, there's no dominance hierarchy, as there is in most other social species. Because group members might be only distantly related to each other, genetic bonds cannot provide all the glue that holds them together. I prefer to think of lions as individuals that join forces to secure food and raise offspring. But for this reason, there's probably much they can teach us about how and why animals co-operate. Despite the familiarity of these big cats, there's still much to learn about them.