Scientific Classification
- Common Name
- African lion
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Felidae
- Genus Species
- Panthera (panther, leopard) leo (lion)
Fast Facts
- Description
- Short-haired, tawny cat; black tail tuft, ears, and lips; newborns with grayish spots which fade to adult color by three months
Male: At maturity, exhibit blond to black manes
- Size
- Male: 1.7 to 2.5 m (5.5 to 8 ft.), and 1.2 m (4 ft.) at the shoulder
Female: 1.4 to 1.7 m (4.5 to 5.5 ft.), and 1.06 m (3.5 ft.) at the shoulder
- Weight
- Male: 150 to 250 kg (330 to 550 lbs.)
Female: 120 to 180 kg (265 to 395 lbs.)
- Diet
- Antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, smaller carnivores, and occasionally Cape buffalo, giraffe, and young elephants
- Incubation
- 98 to 105 days; on average 2 to 4 cubs born
- Sexual Maturity
- Male: 5 years
Female: 4 years
- Life Span
- Up to 30 years in captivity, 15 years average
- Range
- sub-Saharan Africa
- Habitat
- Grasslands and semi-arid plains
- Population
- Global: Unknown
- Status
- IUCN: Not listed
CITES: Not listed
USFWS: Not listed
Fun Facts
- Lions are the only truly social cat species, and usually every female in a pride of 5 to 37 individuals is closely related.
- An adult lion's roar can be heard up to five miles away and warns off intruders or reunites scattered pride members.
- While lions are inactive up to 21 hours a day, in the darkest, coolest hours of early morning the "queens of beasts" hunt as a team to catch a communal meal.
- Pride lionesses frequently enter breeding season together and later give birth at the same time which allows them to share nursing and other maternal duties.
- Although only one out of four hunting events is successful, dominant males always eat first, lionesses next, and cubs scramble for scraps and leftovers.
Ecology and Conservation
Lions are the largest African carnivores and a hungry lion pride feeds on many animals that pass through or share its home range. As specialized communal predators, a pride's role includes keeping herbivore populations in balance with the resources available in their area of the plains.
Bibliography
Benyus, Janine M. Beastly Behaviors. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1992.
Bertram, Brian. Pride of Lions. New York: Scribner's, 1978.
Estis, Richard D. The Safari Companion. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 1993.
Kingdon, Jonathan. East African Mammals, An Atlas of Evolution in Africa. Vol. 3, Part A. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977.
