Cub Litter Size

[Amy43]

One thing I noticed and thought was unusual was that both Simba and Kiara didn't have any siblings. I thought lions usually had a litter of more than one cub. The exception would be Scar and Mufasa. Is it common for lions to have one cub at a time?

[SnowyCheetah]

Just a thought, probably not true though; perhaps the producers felt it wasn't worth it to design and animate the other cubs because they're unimportant to the story.

[xLilacVixenx]

..and I'm pretty sure that the number varies. I think that lions can have one cub; however, all the pride raises the cub.

[Jiirani]

The average litter for a lion in real life is 2-6 cubs. It would be pointless for Kiara or Simba to have any siblings, because there would be no use for them. However, Nala would have had a brother, Mheetu, but he was cut, so most characters in the movie don't have any siblings, it would be a waste of time otherwise.

[atouchofgrace]

[quote="SnowyCheetah"]they're unimportant to the story.[/quote]

^^ This.

[SilverSimba01]

I don't think it would be necessary to just draw another cub(s) or that would make them continue with the story

[Jiirani]

True chizz, but it would've been more interesting if there were more than one cub, in my opinion... But then, if there was Simba's younger brother/sister in the first move, they would be an heir to the throne, and Scar killing Mufasa and driving Simba away would've been pointless...

[atouchofgrace]

[quote="Jiirani"]But then, if there was Simba's younger brother/sister in the first move, they would be an heir to the throne, and Scar killing Mufasa and driving Simba away would've been pointless...[/quote]

True, true...

[Jiirani]

Well, unless Scar tricked Simba and his sibling into the whole stampede thing, but it would be more likely that one of them would return to Pride Rock, yeah? And If Kiara had an older or younger sibling, she would probably be more likely to play with him/her than to wander off... I dunno xD :S

[Panda-chan]

I agree with sno on this one. A second, more far-fetched theory is that any siblings Simba or Kiara had might have been born after their presentations but died before they could reach cubhood. It's actually very common for newborn cubs in Africa to not live past 2 or 3 months because they're simply weaker than their siblings (in this case, either Simba or Kiara). Part of the Circle of Life is survival of the fittest, after all. But if that were the case, you'd think they might have at least been mentioned in the two movies. So as I said before, this is quite far-fetched.