A big-cat mother must be good at hunting. She needs to feed both herself and her growing cubs. At first it can be tricky for the cubs to keep up with their mother. They certainly do not want to lose her. Leopards have a white flash of fur on their tails, which they hold up like a flag for their cubs to follow. Lion tails have a black tip. Tigers have white spots on the back of their ears that may help the youngsters keep sight of their mother. Things can be difficult for the mother, too. The cubs will scare away prey if they do not behave. A mother leopard or cheetah will swish her tail to tell her cubs to lie still while she hunts. She will lead the cubs to the kill afterward or drag the prey back to them. Sometimes she will bring a live animal to her cubs and release it for them to practice catching, while she looks on.
When a lion cub is about twomonths old its mother leads it from the den and introduces it to the pride. There it can be protected by other members of the pride. Lionesses share babysitting andmay even suckle each other’s cubs.
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