"Creature of the Month"
January 2003
The African Lion
Order Family Genus&Species
Carnivora Felidae Panthera leo
Lions once ranged over a large part of the earth
and until around 10,000
years ago
were spread over North America, the northern
tip of South America
and were
also found in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and
southern India. From that time
until now, however, lions in the wild can only
be found in Africa and parts of Asia.
Lions are the best known of the "Big Cats"
and live in groups called
prides. Males,
females, and cubs make up these prides
and can consist of numerous members who
all contribute to the well being of the group. They live in open
grasslands such as the
Savannah region of East Africa, in treeless
areas like the edges of the Kalahari
desert and in other areas which afford
them a good supply of prey.
The African lion roams a large area of land called aterritory
which can be as wide
as 160 miles and as
narrow as 7 to 8 miles. They
mark
this territory by urinating
along the outer stretches of their regal domain. This warns
other lions and predators
not to enter this region and is not unlike
the way the
family dog will mark his
"territory."
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The African lion and the Asian lion are subspecies
which means that there are very
definite differences between the two. The African
lion has a much larger and much
more dense mane than does the Asian lion
and there are differences in the shape of
the two lion species' skull shape. Asian
lions are found in the
Gir Forest of
India and
unlike African lions, they do not live together
in prides but prefer the solitary method
of hunting and existing.
Lions prey on animals such as the antelope, water
buffalo, zebra,
and any number of
other small to medium sized creatures which live in and around the
lion's territory. The
hunting duties are relegated to the female and
she has become quite adept at providing
her pride with food. She generally hunts
at sunset or at night
and uses her golden brown
color to blend into her surroundings until she spots a likely meal.
Hunting alone, she
has one tenth the luck she would have hunting in a group and, for this
reason, lioness'
usually can be found hunting in groups of
5 or more. Adult lions need about 12
to
15 lbs. of meat a day to stay alive but
often do not hunt
or find prey every
day so
whenever a kill is made, a lion may eat up to
75 lbs. in one setting and then rest for
several days before resuming hunting.
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African lions are large cats with tremendous strength
in their shoulders and forepaws.
Adult males weigh between 300 and 550 lbs
and are
48 inches tall at the shoulder
with the female weighing between 265 to 400 lbs.
Females are about 6 inches shorter
than males but are also very powerful in the
shoulders and forepaws, which accounts
for the ease with which she can swat at and stun a small antelope or
other creature,
and pull down larger prey such as water buffalo and small elephants.
Females go through a gestation period of
around
110 days with the resulting offspring
being from 1 to 4 cubs which are
immediately adopted by the pride and are protected
by other lioness' as if they were their own. Cubs are even suckled
by other lioness'
whenever their mother is away on a hunt. These cubs
weigh about 4 lbs at birth and
are helpless and blind for a short time
after birth which puts them at great danger
from
Hyenas, Vultures, and other smaller scavengers.
When cubs are between 2 and 4 years old,
they are
driven from the pride and made
to exist on their own. These "banished"
cubs often team up with brothers and male
cousins who set out to find suitable females
with which to form a new pride. This may
seem cruel to drive out sons and cousins, but prides often become too
large to support
all members, so rather than have all the lions
die of starvation, the
younger lions are
chased away to preserve the sanctity and
well-being of the initial family unit.
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To join a pride of females, male
lions must win a battle with other males who are already
in the pride. Fierce fighting sometimes
takes place
with one or both of the combatants
becoming seriously, or fatally,
wounded. The lucky few who live to fight another day
may now share in the food and begin to father cubs with the females
of the pride.
A male
lion often leads a hard life, though, because in 2 or 3 years another
group of
younger lions will confront them for superiority and entry into the
pride and these
older, battle scarred, and often injured males
are forced to defend their place in the
pride and are often killed in the fierce battles
that ensue. Life in the wilds of Africa
is never easy and staying alive from day to day can often be a challenge.
Even if all
goes well and these males win every battle for control of the pride.....they may only
expect to live for around 16 to 20 years.
The range of the African lion
is shrinking daily and
poaching and encroaching
civil-
ization as well as big-game hunters from
America and other parts of the World
are cutting into their numbers but steps
are being taken to keep the lion from becoming
an endangered species. Quotas are being
imposed as to the number of lion which
can be killed as trophies and preserves
are being set up to protect this magnificent
cat species, notably in national parks such as the
Masai Mara park in Kenya.
Press play below, to hear lion sounds.