31/05/2021
Let us clear something up that many, especially guides are asked about and most get it wrong. Here is the truth --
Mating lions (males).
Many who see or hear about it think it is actually a sexual encounter. It is not.
Lions are extremely affectionate towards one another and we might think the lion rubbing and nuzzling another lion and not a lioness is, for lack of a better word, gay...
He's not. For many animals this is perfectly natural.
This behaviour is often seen as a way of asserting dominance over another male -- letting the other male know this 'mating' lion is more of a boss than the lion he is mounting. That is one of the reasons, and the other is that they are both strengthening the bonds between them.
When trying to quickly find a plausible answer, humans tend to make things up for it to make sense instead of saying, 'I do not know, but will find out', but opt to ignore common sense and add nonsense -- like 'demons' cause this, and similar misguided reasons.
If you watch a lion doing the real thing with a lioness, he is with the lioness for days. He guards her and mates with her often, and when the deed is done there is the customary snarling because there is real pe*******on and withdrawal. His p***s is barbed, so it hurts the lioness a little as he withdraws. She snarls, and he reacts by snarling back -- this does not happen with lions -- there is no violent reaction so the mating is not real.