Nothing regularly eats a healthy adult lion. The biggest killers of lions are people and other lions. Cubs are much easier targets: up to 80% die before they turn 2, mostly from hunger and attacks by new male lions, says the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. Hyenas, leopards and even eagles take a few.
What eats lions in the wild?
A grown lion is simply too big and too well armed for other predators to hunt. Males weigh 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb) and females 120 to 180 kg (265 to 395 lb), according to the Smithsonian. That is heavier than a fridge. Lions also live in prides, so an attacker would face several of them at once.
So lions are apex predators: they hunt, but nothing hunts them as a normal part of its diet. What lions do face is danger. Rival lions, angry people and the big animals lions try to eat can all kill them. The table below sorts these threats by age.
| Life stage | Main threat | How common | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cubs up to 2 years | Hunger and new male lions | Very common: up to 80% die | Smithsonian’s National Zoo |
| Cubs under 1 year | Males taking over the pride | Common | San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance |
| Cubs 3 to 6 weeks old | Martial eagles | Rare: 9 cubs in 15 years in Kenya’s Mara | Hatfield and others, 2024 |
| Cubs left alone | Hyenas, leopards | Occasional | Not counted across Africa |
| Adult males | Fights with other males | Common; males rarely live past 12 | Smithsonian’s National Zoo |
| Adults near farms | People killing lions in revenge for livestock | A leading cause of decline | IUCN Red List 2023; Felix and others, 2022 |
| Old, sick or lone adults | Large groups of hyenas | Rare | Ngorongoro Hyena Project |
| Hunting adults | Buffalo, elephants, hippos, crocodiles | Rare, usually self-defence | Not counted across Africa |
Who kills lions most often?
Other lions. When a new group of males takes over a pride, they kill cubs that cannot run away from them, the Smithsonian says. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance adds that these are usually cubs under a year old. With her cubs gone, the lioness is ready to breed again sooner, so the new males can father their own cubs.
That is why pride life matters. Cubs born in a pride are twice as likely to survive as cubs raised by a lioness on her own, according to San Diego Zoo. Adult males fight too. Wild males rarely live past 12, while lionesses can reach 16. Lions rarely eat the lions they kill; our page on whether a lion will eat another lion explains why.
How do people threaten lions?
People are the only animal that has shrunk lions’ whole range. Lions are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2023 assessment). About 22,000 to 25,000 adult and nearly adult lions remain in Africa, plus about 670 in India, and lions now live in only 6% of their historic range, reports the Endangered Wildlife Trust. Habitat loss is the biggest threat, followed by loss of prey, conflict with people, and trade in lion parts.
Revenge killing is a big part of that conflict. When lions eat cattle or goats, herders sometimes poison or spear them. In Tanzania’s Tarangire-Manyara area, 12 lions were killed in revenge between July 2016 and May 2019, and rangers and conservation groups stopped 15 more attempts, according to Felix and colleagues (2022).
What eats lion cubs?
A newborn cub is small, blind and hidden in thick cover while its mother hunts. That is when hyenas, leopards and other hunters can find it. Nobody has counted how often this happens across Africa, but it is far less common than cubs dying from hunger or from male lions.
The most surprising cub hunter is a bird. A 2024 study by Hatfield and colleagues gathered seven records of martial eagles attacking lion cubs in Kenya’s Mara region between 2008 and 2023. Nine cubs died, all about 3 to 6 weeks old and weighing roughly 2 to 6 kg (4 to 13 lb). The authors say this is almost certainly rare.
Can hyenas kill a lion?
Sometimes, but it is usually the other way round. In Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater, lions are the main cause of death for spotted hyenas, according to the Ngorongoro Hyena Project. An adult male lion is three to four times as heavy as a hyena and can kill one with a single blow.
The crater holds about 550 spotted hyenas and only 25 to 40 adult lions. Even so, hyenas can only win a fight over food against lionesses or young males, and only when hyenas outnumber them by at least six to one. Against adult males, hyenas back off and wait. Lions there steal more food from hyenas than hyenas steal from lions.
What animal can kill a lion?
The most dangerous animals for an adult lion are often the ones it tries to eat. In a study in Zimbabwe, buffalo made up 56% of kills by male lions and 33% of kills by females, found Davidson and colleagues (2013). Every buffalo hunt is a fight with an animal armed with heavy horns, and some end with a gored lion.
Elephants and hippos can crush or bite a lion that comes too close, especially one near their young. Nile crocodiles can grab lions that cross rivers or drink at the water’s edge. These deaths happen and have been filmed, but no study has counted them across Africa, so treat any number you see online with care. If you visit a park with lions, stay inside your vehicle and follow the rangers’ rules.
Do leopards and cheetahs eat lions?
No. This is a common mix-up, and the food chain runs the other way. Lions kill leopards and cheetahs, and their cubs, when they get the chance. A leopard might take an unguarded lion cub, but it never hunts adult lions.
Cheetahs are even more at risk. The Smithsonian notes that lions easily overpower cheetahs, so cheetahs usually run rather than fight. In Serengeti National Park, about 90% of cheetah cubs die before they are 3 months old. Our page on cheetah adaptations shows how speed helps them escape. To see what makes lions so hard to beat, read how strong a lion is.
Frequently asked questions
Do lions have any natural predators?
Healthy adult lions have no regular natural predators. No other animal hunts them as normal food. Adults are mostly killed by other lions and by people. Cubs are a different story, since hyenas, leopards and martial eagles can take them, and up to 80% of cubs die before age 2.
How long do lions live in the wild?
Wild lionesses can live to about 16, but males rarely live past 12, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Males live shorter lives because they fight other males for control of prides. In zoos, where there are no fights or hungry seasons, lions can reach their late teens or early 20s.
Why do male lions kill cubs?
When new males take over a pride, they kill cubs fathered by the old males. With her cubs gone, a lioness can breed again sooner, so the new males can father their own cubs. Scientists call this infanticide. It is one of the main reasons so many lion cubs die young.
How many lions are left in the world?
About 22,000 to 25,000 adult and nearly adult lions live in Africa, and about 670 live in India's Gir Forest area. The IUCN lists lions as Vulnerable (2023 assessment). Lions now live in only about 6% of the range they once had.
Would a tiger beat a lion?
Wild lions and tigers almost never meet. Tigers live in Asia, and the only wild Asian lions live in India's Gir area, where there are no wild tigers. So tigers are not lion predators. Any fight between them is imaginary, so size and strength figures are the only fair way to compare them.
Sources
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Lion.
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Lion.
- Endangered Wildlife Trust (reporting the IUCN Red List assessment of Panthera leo) (2023). Lions remain listed as Vulnerable in the 2023 Red List assessment.
- Ecology and Evolution via PubMed Central (2024). Predator becomes prey: Martial eagle predation of lion cubs in the greater Mara region, Kenya (Hatfield et al., Ecology and Evolution, doi:10.1002/ece3.70148).
- PLOS ONE via PubMed Central (2022). Retaliatory killing negatively affects African lion male coalitions in the Tarangire-Manyara Ecosystem, Tanzania (Felix et al., PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0272272).
- PLOS ONE via PubMed Central (2013). Seasonal diet and prey preference of the African lion in a waterhole-driven semi-arid savanna (Davidson et al., PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055182).
- Ngorongoro Hyena Project. Conflict with lions.
- Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Cheetah.
Sources checked 15 September 2026.
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