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Description
Headcanon: in kingdoms ruled by predatory animals (such as lions or hyenas), it is against the law for the ruling monarch to hunt, and the same goes for the leader of their royal guard. However, everyone must learn to hunt, and successfully complete one: after all, if they’re ever separated from their group, or on a very long journey, they need to be able to take care of themselves. I go over this more, here .

...Simba did not know how to hunt. He spent almost the entirety of his youth being raised by a meerkat and a warthog, after all! He couldn’t even catch scorpions like Timon, as lions aren’t immune to their venom. When Simba initially became king of the Pridelands, there were far more important things to worry about than his hunting ability: they had to get the other animals back in the first place, reconnect with other kingdoms, almost immediately there was a daughter to raise, then two sons—it slipped everybody’s minds! But, eventually, it was time to teach the king how to feed himself. Both Sarabi and Nala pitched in to help Simba learn, but it was a way, waaaaay longer process than normal, as any other young adult would have had years of practice. Eventually he did figure it out, but he hopes he‘ll never be in a position where he’s relied on for it, because he’s by far the least talented hunter in the pride.

Kion had a similar, but less extreme situation. He was already Rani’s consort before his hunting lessons were all the way finished. The Tree of Life (again, this is just my headcanon) mostly relies on grubs , just like Simba did in the jungle, as the kingdom is meant to be a temporary or long-term place of sanctuary. But their predatory animals must still know how to hunt, for the same reasons as the Pridelanders.

While Kion had hunted during his first journey to the Tree, he wasn’t proficient at it, and had been forced to hunt more like a cheetah than a lion, due to having to work alongside Fuli. In Nala’s stead, Surak helped Kion to finish his training—in a neutral zone outside of the kingdom, of course. Having dedicated himself to protecting animals from poachers, even participating in totally legal hunting makes Kion very uncomfortable, and like Simba he hopes he’ll never have to do it again.

~~~

I was asked on that picture of Kovu and Kiara how I accounted for Kiara’s line that Simba was “hunting with Mom”—at the time I had the excuse of “oh, that’s just what they said to cover up a date” cause that was cute, buuuuut I like this more than that answer. It makes more sense

The first background is an edit by , the second by

Description
Headcanon: in kingdoms ruled by predatory animals (such as lions or hyenas), it is against the law for the ruling monarch to hunt, and the same goes for the leader of their royal guard. However, everyone must learn to hunt, and successfully complete one: after all, if they’re ever separated from their group, or on a very long journey, they need to be able to take care of themselves. I go over this more, here .

...Simba did not know how to hunt. He spent almost the entirety of his youth being raised by a meerkat and a warthog, after all! He couldn’t even catch scorpions like Timon, as lions aren’t immune to their venom. When Simba initially became king of the Pridelands, there were far more important things to worry about than his hunting ability: they had to get the other animals back in the first place, reconnect with other kingdoms, almost immediately there was a daughter to raise, then two sons—it slipped everybody’s minds! But, eventually, it was time to teach the king how to feed himself. Both Sarabi and Nala pitched in to help Simba learn, but it was a way, waaaaay longer process than normal, as any other young adult would have had years of practice. Eventually he did figure it out, but he hopes he‘ll never be in a position where he’s relied on for it, because he’s by far the least talented hunter in the pride.

Kion had a similar, but less extreme situation. He was already Rani’s consort before his hunting lessons were all the way finished. The Tree of Life (again, this is just my headcanon) mostly relies on grubs , just like Simba did in the jungle, as the kingdom is meant to be a temporary or long-term place of sanctuary. But their predatory animals must still know how to hunt, for the same reasons as the Pridelanders.

While Kion had hunted during his first journey to the Tree, he wasn’t proficient at it, and had been forced to hunt more like a cheetah than a lion, due to having to work alongside Fuli. In Nala’s stead, Surak helped Kion to finish his training—in a neutral zone outside of the kingdom, of course. Having dedicated himself to protecting animals from poachers, even participating in totally legal hunting makes Kion very uncomfortable, and like Simba he hopes he’ll never have to do it again.

~~~

I was asked on that picture of Kovu and Kiara how I accounted for Kiara’s line that Simba was “hunting with Mom”—at the time I had the excuse of “oh, that’s just what they said to cover up a date” cause that was cute, buuuuut I like this more than that answer. It makes more sense

The first background is an edit by , the second by