It's weird to say that cannibalism is a good idea, but once you hear why these lions did it, it makes a little more sense.
Rolf Baerens, owner of the safari company Big Cats Namibia, shared video and photos on social media showing a pride of lions feasting on a lion cub. At first, it's jarring to see the animals eat their own, but in the description, Baerens explains what happened and what the animals are most likely thinking.
"While unsettling, this incident provides a grim insight into the realities of nature, where survival often compels animals to make the most out of every situation, no matter how morbid it may seem," Baerens wrote.
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Baerens explained that the cub was wounded by a crocodile as a family of lions tried to cross a river earlier in the day and later died from its injuries. Although they didn't immediately eat the cub, Baerens thinks they first considered their options.
"They could do one of two things: leave their expired family member's body to the will of the wilderness and risk attracting other scavengers to their location or, in the most pragmatic of ways, take care of this dilemma in house," Baerens wrote.
He added that they chose the second option but stressed that it "doesn't make them heartless. Lions, like all wild animals, rely on instinct to guide their actions. Once the cub is gone, the primal instinct to utilize all available food sources overrides any feelings of sentimentality."
Lions eating each other isn't completely unheard of. Experts say in some cases, males might kill and eat the cubs so the females can carry their babies or younger males might kill older males to take over the pride. But in the case of a family eating its young, Baerens called it "a special case, the rarest of rare."
