join a crèche will maintain the best condition throughout development compared to the crèchers. Crèche behaviour in lions Crèche behaviours will also develop in certain species of lions. For the first four to six weeks of development, mothers will care for their young on their own to make sure they are getting the proper care and nutritions. Once they reach six weeks, female pride mate mothers will group together to form a crèche. Mothers will form this crèche with other mothers who have cubs of the same age cubs. These crèches could range from two to nine mothers, but they average around four to five mothers. Females and their young will remain together in these crèches until the young have reached about two years of age. Studies show that mothers in crèches which involve three to four females may suffer from low food intake. The main advantage of crèches in lion species is for defence. The mothers in a crèche will work together to defend their cubs and protect them from nomadic male lions or any other predators that may approach the pride. The greater numbers of females in the crèche, the greater rates of male takeovers. Being a member of a crèche, provides safety from predators for the cubs and ensures that the mother will forage in a group size close to optimum. Studies have proven that mothers keep their cubs in crèche formations to initiate high stable care groups that will aid in defence. While crèches are great for defence, they have a contrasting impact on food intake. If there are a very high number of cubs in a crèche compared to mothers, the cubs could become severely undernourished. As well, female lions without cubs will avoid a crèche as they would experience a low rate of food intake in that group living arrangement. Studies have also shown that living in a crèche environment does not guarantee increased access and retrieval of resources. When lions are nursing, the cubs that are raised in a crèche do not have an advantage of gaining more milk than their conspecifics who do not live in a crèche. Crèche behaviour in penguins The crèche group behaviour will also be seen in many species of penguins. This behaviour will occur when multiple adult penguins rear their chicks together in a group formation. In the majority of penguin crèches there will be more chicks