An African lioness that looks and acts male may be the secret to her pride’s success.
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♪♪♪♪ [ LIONS ROARING ]
THE MORE MALES IN A PRIDE, THE BIGGER AN AREA THEY CAN DEFEND.
BUT RIGHT NOW, IN BOTSWANA'S OKAVANGO DELTA, THERE'S AN EXTRAORDINARY LION THAT'S REWRITING THE RULES.
THIS IS MMAMORIRI... A PERFECTLY ORDINARY MALE LION, COMPLETE WITH A CHARACTERISTIC MANE.
RIGHT?
[ RECORD SCRATCHES ] ACTUALLY, NO.
WRONG.
YOU SEE, MMAMORIRI IS A LIONESS.
♪♪♪♪ DESPITE APPEARANCES, SHE'S DEFINITELY FEMALE.
♪♪♪♪ YET NOT ONLY DOES MMAMORIRI LOOK LIKE A MALE, SHE OFTEN ACTS LIKE ONE.
♪♪♪♪ EVEN HER ROAR IS DEEPER AND MORE MASCULINE.
[ MMAMORIRI ROARS HUSKILY ] RIGHT NOW THERE ARE THOUGHT TO BE FIVE OF THESE MANED LIONESSES IN THE OKAVANGO DELTA.
THE DELTA'S SEASONAL FLOODWATERS CREATE A DEGREE OF ISOLATION FOR THESE LIONS FROM OTHER PRIDES IN BOTSWANA.
THEY PROBABLY ALL HAVE THE SAME GENETIC MUTATION WHICH HAS CREATED AN IMBALANCE OF HORMONES.
♪♪♪♪ THIS IS MIND-BLOWING STUFF, BUT WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
WELL, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S TREATED LIKE A LIONESS BY HER OWN PRIDE, SCIENTISTS SUSPECT THAT BECAUSE MMAMORIRI MIMICS A MALE, RIVALS WOULD BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MORE MALES IN HER PRIDE THAN THERE ACTUALLY ARE.
AND WITH MORE MALES, THE PRIDE CAN DEFEND A LARGER TERRITORY.
