Lion, member of the cat family whose size, power, and bearing have captured human imagination since earliest times. Called the king of beasts, lions once ranged throughout Africa and from Europe to Iran and India. They disappeared from Europe about 2,000 years ago and from northern Africa and most of south-west Asia 150 years ago. By 1900 lions were no longer found in Syria; today Eurasian wild lions are limited to the Gir Sanctuary in India. Lions also roam Africa south of the Sahara, particularly the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Although lions are not endangered in Africa as a whole, it is thought that the lion populations of west and central Africa are now too small to be viable and may soon become extinct there. This drastic reduction in range came about as human beings and domestic livestock spread into savannah lands. Because lions live in open areas, they are easily shot by hunters and herders. In sanctuaries, however, they are a great attraction for tourists, and within such confines their survival is not endangered except by disease.
Lions have relatively short-legged, long, muscular bodies and large heads. The male grows to 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.6 to 8.2 ft) long, not including the tail, which is 90 to 105 cm (36 to 41 in) in length. The animal stands 1.23 m (4 ft) high at the shoulder, and it weighs 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lb). The mane, which covers the head and neck, sometimes extends to the shoulders and belly. It varies in length and in colour, from black to tawny; well-fed, healthy lions have longer, fuller manes. The smaller, equally muscular females are of the same tawny colour but lack manes. Both sexes have hooked claws, which are retractable (can be withdrawn), and wide, powerful jaws. The lion's roar, which can be heard up to 9 km (5.6 mi) away, is usually uttered before the animals hunt in the evening, after a successful hunt, and again in the early morning. In the open savannahs they inhabit, lions need travel only about 8 km (5 mi) and spend only two to three hours a day in pursuit of food, passing the remaining hours resting and sleeping. Lions do not hunt every day.
| II | Social Organization |
Among the most gregarious of the cats, lions associate in groups of one or more family units called prides. A pride has 5 to 37 members composed of 4 to 12 adult females, their cubs, and 1 to 6 adult males. The females, which represent several generations, rarely leave the pride. Male cubs stay in the pride until they are expelled when nearly adult. They then roam about for several years, after which they begin to contend with rival males to head a pride. Many males often remain nomadic, and even those that take over a pride remain with the females for only a few months to a few years before they leave on their own or are forced out by rivals. When a male lion takes over another's pride he takes over the territory and the females within it. He will often kill some of the existing cubs that were fathered by the dominant male lion that he defeated. A pride frequently breaks up into groups that later recombine into different assemblages of individuals. In prides of Indian lions the adult males are not resident.
The size of the territory that a lion pride works depends on the amount of available prey in the territory, which may range in area from 20 to 400 sq km (8 to 150 sq mi). Lions of both sexes maintain territories by leaving a strong scent on bushes and by roaring to warn off wandering prides and nomadic males.
| III | Predatory Behaviour |
The prey of lions ranges from insects to giraffes; the animals prefer large animals such as zebra. Hunting takes place in the evening and is primarily a female group activity. The lionesses cautiously stalk their prey and cut off escape routes. Once within close range, they run it down in sprints reaching about 50 to 60 km/h (30 to 37 mph). The lionesses' great weight and momentum usually bring down their victims, which are then dispatched with a bite to the throat that suffocates the prey. After the female has made a kill, the male comes to share the meat. Males may scare off females in order to take some of the meat. A lion may eat 40 kg (88 lb) of meat at one time and then go for more than a week before the next kill.
| IV | Reproduction and Lifespan |
Lions are polygamous (have more than one mate) and breed every 18 to 26 months in the wild; captive lions breed every year. After a gestation period of about 110 days, one to four cubs are born, with thick, spotted coats. As lions age they develop more and more black spots on their nose; after five years a lion’s nose is half black. Lions in captivity can live up to 20 years; in the wild, males live an average of 12 years and females an average of 16 years.
Scientific classification: The lion belongs to the family Felidae. It is classified as Panthera leo.
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