The Lion is known as “The King of the Jungle” Lions are a member of the felidae family of big cats. They usually are light brown but can be a variety of colors even white. Males have the big mane around their neck, which protects them if they are fighting. Males can reach 4 feet tall (females a little less) get 5 to 8 feet long and weigh 330 to 500 pounds according to Defenders of Wildlife. They can also sprint to 50 miles per hour for short periods.
Habits of the Lion
Lions are the only big cats that live in groups which are called prides. The females do the majority of hunting, while the males fight off enemies when needed. They are very social and affectionate to other members of the pride.
Lions do most of their hunting at night, and hunt as a team. Doing this allows them to hunt bigger prey than some solitary cats. A pride of lions will even try to kill and eat elephants when times are tough. Their main diet is of Zebras, impalas, buffalo, wildebeests, giraffes and sometimes rhinos or hippos. Since they hunt as a team they can wear down faster prey and overcome and kill large dangerous animals. Lions will hunt by themselves at times, and are not above stealing a kill from another predator.
Males use roars (which can be heard up to 5 miles) and sent markings to mark their territory. The pride can be up to 15 strong with around 3 males and the rest female lions. Each pride has its own territory which may be up to 100 square miles. Lions live around 12 years in the wild, a bit longer in captivity.
The lions may remain inactive for over 20 hours, conserving energy for the hunt. A female may mate with several males. When she has cubs there are usually 1 to 4 in number. Cubs will suckle from any female in the pride, and will start hunting at around 11 months old. If a new male takes over a pride he will often kill any cubs in the group. He does this so he can father his own cubs, as a lioness will not become pregnant while she has other cubs. Often the mother will try to fight off the male when it attacks her cubs. And sometimes several female lions will attack the male in this case, and often whip his butt!
Habitat of the Lion
In their glory days Lions could be found all over Africa and in parts of Asia and Europe. Now they are contained to Sub Sahara Africa where according to Defenders of Wildlife (see above link) less than 20,000 remain. Defenders of Wildlife also say around 200 live in the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in India.
Lions now live in grasslands and savannas in Africa and in wooded areas of India where they are found. They use the tall grass in their habitat to hide from prey and any potential enemies. Thanks for reading this article about the habits and habitat of the Lion, on Associatedcontent.com.
