They rejoin the group when cubs can keep up. This usually takes a few months. They accompany mother on hunting trips at three months. The newborn cubs are covered with spotted woolly fur. The female lion cubs will stay with the pride forever, while the male lions leave the pride at three years of age.
Sexual maturity is reached at four years of age.
Lions live an average of 12 to 18 years. Lions are one of the great carnivores. This means they only eat flesh. In the wild they prefer antelopes, gazelle, impala, zebras, buffaloes, and a variety of smaller animals. At the Santa Barbara Zoo the lions eat horse meat, ground and chunked.