Why new male lions kill the cubs?

Question

I read that when a new male lion becomes the pride leader, it kills all the cubs of that pride. Why?

Answer 1

the new male kills the cubs because they are not his and do not have his genes.  he wants to have cubs that are his and his only.   plus females can't mate if they have cubs.

Answer 2

The new male lion doesn't want the previous lion passing on his genetics. He wants to pass his on. And besides the mothers of the cubs can't mate.

Answer 3

After battling the previous pride leader, usually resulting in death of him, the new male wants to establish a bond between the females and him, and the only way to get the "proper" bond is to mate with them. But to him the cubs are in the way, so he kills them.

not only does he want this bond formed, he wants to make sure none of the old blood runs through the pride. that means the kids have to go, in a bloody death.

so, yeah

Answer 4

When one or more new males oust the previous male(s) associated with a pride, the conqueror(s) often kill any existing young cubs,  perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die.

Answer 5

It takes a lioness around two years to raise cubs to an age when they can look after themselves - she will not breed again until this time. A new male or males taking over the pride don't want to wait all that time before they can breed themselves, protecting the offspring of another male - most male lions only hold a pride for two to three years before they are ousted by others, so they must breed as soon as possible. Killing the cubs brings the lionesses back into breeding condition, so that they will mate with the new males and give birth to their cubs.

This behaviour is not restricted to lions - many male animals will kill the offspring of another male, both to reduce competition for themselves and to give their own offspring a better chance.