African Lions

The Romans pitted African

Lions are imposing cats that exhibit unrivaled teamwork among felines. These magnificent predators are world renowned, and for good reason. 

The lion is called the King of the Jungle and its majestic mane gives it a regal look ,

The lion enjoys the title of undisputed king of the jungle 

   

the African lion has represented courage and strength.

Size & Description 

The lion is the only cat exhibiting sexual Dimorphism, 

which means that male and females lions look different from each other. Males are larger than females. A lion's body ranges in length from 6 to 7 feet 1.8 to 2.1 metres, with a 26 to 40 inch tail 0,6 -1 meters. Weight runs between 250 to 450 pounds 120 – 200 kilograms Adult lions range in color from  gray to various shades of brown. Both males and females are powerful, muscular cats with rounded heads and ears. Only adult male lions display a brown or rust, or black mane, which extends down the neck and chest. Only males have dark tail tufts, which conceal tail bone spurs in some specimens.

Range & Habitat

Lions prefer grassland & Savannah habitats in close proximity to water sources, e.g. rivers. 

They also prefer hunting in open areas, rather than densely packed forest, Lions are absent from all Rain forest habitats in their range. The African lions have a number of subspecies separated by large, lion-less expanses. Historically, lions could be found across the vast majority of Africa, but their current range has been restricted to a smattering of locations in Central and Southern Africa.

Outside of Africa, lions used to be found from Greece all the way to India. Now

 only a small population of the Asiatic lion subspecies can be found in the Gir Forest National Park in Western India.

Diet

Lions are hypercarnivores, that  means their diet consists of more that 70% meat. 

African lions prefer to hunt large ungulates, including zebra, African buffalo, giraffe, and wildebeest. They are  avoid very large and very small prey, but will take domestic livestock , and a single lion can take down prey twice its size. In prides, lionesses hunt cooperatively, stalking from more than one direction to capture fleeing animals. Lions kill either by strangling their prey or by enclosing its mouth and nostrils to suffocate it.

Behavior

Lions sleep for 16 to 20 hours a day.

They most often hunt at dawn or dusk, but can adapt to their prey to change their schedule. They communicate using vocalizations, head rubbing, licking, facial expressions, chemical marking, or visual marking. Lions are known for their fierce roar, but may also growl, meow, snarl, and purr etc.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Thank You ❤