Why do lions sometimes climb trees? We talked to Panthera lion experts Paolo Strampelli, Kristoffer Everatt and Philipp Henschel to help us explain this phenomenon — which is actually more common than you might think!
When you think of big cats climbing trees, you almost certainly think of leopards. The classic image that comes to mind is an African leopard dragging a kill, perhaps a small antelope, up into a tree and away from the hungry jaws of other carnivores. But, in this same landscape, another cat is known to climb the occasional tree — in east and southern Africa, lions have been documented climbing trees.
There are several instances in which lions climb trees. Young lions, for example, do it quite regularly. Many other times, lions attempt to climb trees to steal kills from the leopards attempting to elude them. Panthera lion expert Paolo Strampelli speculates that lions may sometimes climb trees in Kafue National Park in order to escape biting insects like tsetse flies (though tree climbing is far from universal where lions occur alongside tsetse flies).
In several national parks in Africa, there are lions that are well-known for tree-climbing behaviors. Ishasha Valley in Uganda, for example, is famous for its climbing lions. In Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania, many cases have also been documented. What could be the reasons for this behavior, and why do lions not do it more often?
As you may imagine, lions are not very good at climbing trees. The obvious reason is that their morphology (form) is unsuited for this practice. They have large bodies with long legs, suited for hunting large herbivores on open plains or riverine habitats. Their center of gravity is too high to climb tall trees, and they are often too heavy to make an ascent up one.
Panthera’s West and Central Africa Regional Director, Dr. Philipp Henschel, speculates that when lions do climb trees, it is because of the structure of the trees more than anything else. It’s important to note that tree morphology even influences which trees leopards (expert climbers) ascend, regionally. While leopards often climb trees that grow moderately high in East and southern Africa, they could never climb the very tall trees of Africa’s tropical rainforests, which they also inhabit. So, the same rule likely holds true for lions.
So, when you next see an image of a leopard climbing a tree, know that there might have been a lion nearby that may have attempted to climb that tree, too. And while this is, in fact, more common than most think, it still will likely not end well for the lion. But, in pursuit of a good meal, even climbing a tree is not off the table.
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© Sebastian Kennerknecht
