Lions have very high copulation rates. The female may mate approximately every 15 minutes when she is in heat for three days and nights without sleeping, and sometimes with five different males. This often leads to physical exhaustion of males when only a one or two are involved.
Talk about 'animal gratification'!
The penis of a lion, like all felines, has backward pointing barbs. In lions, copulation is often accompanied by snarling, biting, growling, and threats, and sometimes the female turns and swats the male during dismount (most likely as a result of the pain invoked by a barbed penis).
All I can say is, "OUCH!!!",
It has been theorized that the pain inflicted upon the female, during withdrawal from her vagina, is necessary to stimulate the female to ovulate.
Once again, "OUCH!!!"
After a new group of males take over a pride, females usually increase their sexual activity while lowering their fertility rate. "Oral sex" occurs as fore play-female lions may lick and rub the male's genitals.
Naughty, naughty lionesses!
Homosexual interactions in lionesses are often initiated by one female pursuing another and crawling under her to encourage the other female to mount her.
YUP! "gay" lion behavior. Not to surprising considering this barbed penis thing!
When mounting another female, a lioness displays a number of behaviors also associated with heterosexual mating, including gently biting the mounted on the neck, growling, making pelvic thrusts, and rolling on her own back afterward. Sometimes lionesses take turns mounting each other-two lionesses were observed mounting each other three times over two days. Because most females in a pride are related to each other (on average about as closely related as cousins) homosexual behavior among lionesses may be incestuous.
Similar to males, females occasionally form companionships with each other within a pride. Females lions that participate in homosexual mounting may be bi-sexual, since same-sex activity sometimes alternates (or co-occurs) with heterosexual mounting in the same session. Some females react aggressively to homosexual overtures and therefore these individuals are probably predominantly heterosexual. However, other females engage in same-sex mounting even in the presence of males, indicating more of a "preference" for homosexual activity.
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Among males, homosexual activity often begins with a great deal of affectionate activity. Initially, this begins as a standard greeting, but goes beyond this to include circling one another, presentation of the hind quarters to the other male, and rolling on the back with an erect penis. This may lead to intense caressing and eventually mounting of one male by the other, including pelvic thrusting.
How gay can a feline be?!
Sometimes three males may rub and roll together, mounting each other in turn. Male homosexual mounting may account for up to 8 percent of all mounting episodes. Because male pride-mates, like females, are often usually related to each other (as close, on average, as half brothers), this activity may also be incestuous.
Only about half of all companionships of two to three males lions ever become residents that mate with a pride of females. Those that don't may associate exclusively with other males for most of their lives, while some that do join a pride may participate in both same-sex and opposite-sex activities. A male lion sometimes courts a particular individual, keeping company with him for several days while engaging in sexual behavior. He typically defends his partner against intruding males, and often other males in the group will join him in attacking any interfering males.
Although, of course, nomadic lions do mate heterosexually, raising young is far more difficult than living in a pride. Nomadic male lions also may form long-lasting platonic "companionships" with other males, spending nearly all of their time together; these male pair- or trio-bonds are generally stronger than heterosexual bonds between pride members. Female lions sometimes participate in productive alternate family arrangements amongst themselves, such as communal care and suckling of young, as well as the formation of CRECHES or nursery groups.
Hey, not everything is about sex!
By the way, in captivity, male lions have been seen masturbating using an unusual technique in which the lion lies on his back and rolls his hind quarters up and above his head, so that he can rub his penis with one of his front legs.
Well...
OK...
It's mostly about sex.
