Introduction to Lion
Lion, a large meat-eating animal of Africa and India. The lion is one of the largest members of the cat family. Because of its noble, dignified bearing the lion is known as the “king of beasts.” Lions have long been popular zoo and circus attractions and can be taught many tricks. Most lions in circuses and zoos were either born in captivity or were captured as cubs.
Lions seize prey with their powerful jaws.Lions are found in many parts of Africa. They are most abundant in grassland areas where game is most plentiful; but they also are found in rocky, semidesert regions. The once abundant Asiatic lion formerly roamed the northern half of India; today, only a few hundred individuals, virtually all of them living in a wildlife sanctuary in the Gir Forest, survive.
Within historic times lions lived throughout western Asia and in Greece and other parts of southeastern Europe. Before the last great Ice Age they lived in southern Europe and in what are now France, Germany, and the British Isles.
The mountain lion of North America is not a lion, but a cougar.
How Many Kinds of Lions Are There?Lions that live in Africa are called African lions. Those that live in India are called Asiatic lions. These lions may go by different names, but there is only one species, or kind, of lion.
Thousands of years ago, lions could be found over much of the world. They lived in Africa, Europe, Asia, and even North and South America. Lions probably disappeared from many regions when forests grew too thick, their prey became extinct, and humans overhunted them. Today, the only lions that live outside of Africa are found in one area of India.
Lions that live in Africa and India belong to the same species. But there are differences between them. Lions living in India are smaller than those living in Africa. They also have smaller manes. Because of these slight differences, these two forms of lions are often called by different names.
Facts in brief about lions Names: Male, lion; female, lioness; young, cub; group, pride.Gestation period: About 3 1/2 months.Number in litter: 1 to 6, usually 2 or 3.Length of life: 20 to 25 years, in captivity; in the wild, 15 to 20 years.Where found: Africa south of the Sahara; the Gir Forest of India.Scientific classification: Lions belong to the class Mammalia, and the order Carnivora. They are in the cat family, Felidae. Their scientific name is Panthera leo.
The Lion's Body
Most full-grown males are 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3 m) long, including a 3-foot (90-cm) tail, and weigh 400 to 500 pounds (180 to 225 kg). Lionesses are generally smaller.
The lion has a strong, muscular body with exceptionally powerful forequarters. It is tawny-yellow to brownish-gray in color with buff underparts. The Asiatic lion has a prominent fold of skin along the abdomen. The lion's tail is tufted with black fur, and within the tuft is a hard, sharp spine, the purpose of which is not known. Each toe has a strong, curved, retractable claw up to three inches (7.5 cm) long. In the mighty jaws, which can open to 12 inches (30 cm) wide, are teeth that can crush a bull's spine at a bite.
The adult male usually develops a brown to black mane about its neck. The mane is often a luxuriant growth in captive lions, but is scant and scraggly in wild ones that have to push through thorny brush.
How Are a Lion and a Pet Cat Alike?A lion and a pet cat have a lot in common. Both have similar shapes. They have lean bodies and long tails. Both have long, pointed canines and sharp, retractable claws. Both species use their claws to climb, to hold, to fight, and to kill. And both a lion and a pet cat walk on their toes—not on the soles of their feet.
Lions spend much of their time on the ground. But they are good climbers, too—just as pet cats are. Both species can climb trees to chase prey. Also, both lions and pet cats use body language and scents to communicate. They also use calls. Lions roar. Pet cats meow. And just like pet cats, lions take catnaps!
But, in spite of all these similarities, there is one big difference. A lion is about 30 times larger than the average pet cat. Imagine having a cat that big around the house!
What Makes Lions “Kings”?Lions are often called kings of the animal world, and it is easy to see why. Lions are among the largest of the wild cats. Most male lions weigh from 350 to 400 pounds (160 to 180 kilograms), but some weigh up to 560 pounds (250 kilograms). Including their tails, full-grown male lions are usually about 9 feet (2.7 meters) in length. They stand an average of 4 feet tall (1.2 meters) at the shoulder. Lionesses, or female lions, are slightly smaller.
But their huge size does not slow these animals down. While chasing prey, lions can reach speeds up to 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour.
A male lion has one of the largest heads of all the wild cats. Around his head and neck is a mane of thick, long hair. This mane gives the male lion a kingly look. He is the only wild cat with a mane.
Is a Lion’s Mane Just for Show?A mane makes an adult male lion look bigger than he really is. It is made up of long, thick fur. It may be yellow, brown, or black in color. But while a mane is striking, it’s more than just for show.
The bigger mane a male lion has, the more impressive he looks to other males. And the more impressive he looks, the more likely he will become one of the leaders of a group of lions.
A majestic mane also helps a male avoid fights with other males. This is because males with less impressive manes are not likely to fight lions with longer manes. But if a male lion does get into a fight, the thick mane comes in handy. It protects a male lion’s neck.
The Pride
Lions are the only truly social cats and normally live in a group, called a pride, of as many as 30 individuals. A typical pride has two or three adult males, five to ten adult females, and a number of cubs.
During the day lions commonly rest in the forest, in tall grass, or even in the open veldt (plain); some choose the fork or limb of a tree. Lions are usually quite active at night and do most of their hunting then. They have excellent night vision, and keen senses of smell and hearing. Lions establish territories and mark the boundaries by urinating on bushes and trees.
What Is a Pride?Most wild cats spend nearly their whole lives on their own—but not lions. Lions spend most of their lives in groups called prides. A pride may include as many as seven adult males and many more females and cubs—up to 40 lions in all.
The lionesses, or female lions, of a pride are usually related to each other. And they generally stay with a pride their entire lives. Males do not stay their entire lives. But they may remain for several years. In time, they leave to join a new pride, or other males drive them off. Young males that leave a pride may spend a few years wandering together until they are strong enough to lead their own pride.
A pride’s territory usually covers around 80 square miles (210 square kilometers). A pride chooses its territory based on the availability of two things: prey and water. Lions mark their territory by urinating on trees and shrubs around its border. The scent of these markings tells other lions to keep out.
Who Does What in a Pride?What a lion does depends mostly on whether it is a male or a female. The adult males are responsible for defending the pride’s territory against intruders. If the male lions are to remain the leaders of the pride, they must be able to drive off other groups of males that try to take over. Large males will often drive away hyenas, jackals, or other animals that wander into their territory, too.
While male lions defend the territory, females do most of the hunting. In order for a pride to survive, its lionesses must be skilled hunters. But both males and females guard any leftovers from a kill. And they both spend up to 20 hours a day resting or sleeping.
Why Do Lions Roar?Lions roar to announce their territory to other lions. These calls warn other lions to stay away. Lions can roar so loudly that they can be heard up to 5 miles (8 kilometers) away. Any animal that hears the roar knows that lions are nearby.
Lions do most of their roaring at the beginning and ending of their day. They also often roar after hunting. Sometimes, one pride will hear the roars of another pride. Lions in the first pride will answer with roars of their own.
Lion Chow
Lions tend to hunt in groups, although solitary hunting is not unusual. In either case, the females do most of the hunting. When lions hunt in a group, they spread out and more or less surround the prey even though a single lion goes in for the kill. Lions prey on zebras, antelopes, domestic cattle, and buffalos.
A lion usually stalks its prey until it is 10 to 30 yards (9 to 27 m) away, then charges. Often, the prey escapes; in those cases where the lion succeeds in catching the prey, it usually hooks its claws into the prey's flanks, throws it down, and kills it by biting or smothering it. All of the lions in the pride feed on the prey, with the strongest males getting first choice.
A substantial amount of the lion's food comes from scavenging the kill of other predators, especially hyenas or wild dogs, or from eating carcasses of animals that died from disease or injury.
Lions rarely attack a human being without provocation. Some, however, become man-eaters. These are usually animals that have been made unfit for hunting by injuries or the afflictions of age. Some are the offspring of crippled lionesses that turned to feeding on human flesh.
How Do Lions Hunt?Lions often hunt at night. That’s when they are most likely to surprise their prey. Lions mostly hunt large animals, such as zebra, buffalo, and wildebeest. Such prey can weigh twice as much as a lion. Prey this big is not easy for one lion to bring down. So when lions hunt, they often work as a team.
Hungry lions begin their hunt by searching for a herd of animals. During most hunts, lions stalk, or creep up on, their prey. Although lions can run fast, many of their prey can run faster. So lions must get as close as they can before they spring at their prey.
When lions work together, they may spread out and circle their prey to cut off escape routes. Then they creep in. Lions use their sharp claws to grab their surprised prey from behind. Or, the lions seize the prey with their powerful jaws. Then they force it to the ground.
How Do Lions Eat Their Meals?Lions begin eating soon after they bring their prey to the ground. They use their long canines to tear away large chunks of meat. Since lions have teeth designed for tearing rather than for chewing, they swallow the chunks whole. Lions also use their tongues, which are coarse like sandpaper, to strip away hair and scrape meat off bones.
If there is plenty to eat, a pride eats together. If not, the most powerful, or dominant, males eat first. It might be a while before they finish. A male lion can eat up to 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of meat in just one meal. After the males eat their fill, the lionesses get a turn. The last ones to eat are the cubs, or baby lions.
Lions eat as much as they possibly can at each meal. That’s because a week may pass before they catch their next meal. If prey is scarce, lions will eat just about anything they can catch. This includes small mammals, birds, and reptiles.
Do Lions Compete with Other Wild Cats?Lions do compete for prey with other big wild cats, such as leopards and cheetahs. But lions do not compete with the biggest wild cats of all—tigers. The reason that lions and tigers don’t compete with each other is that they don’t live near each other.
All tigers live in Asia. One form of tiger lives far north in the snow-covered alpine forests of Siberia. But most tigers, like this Bengal tiger, live in warm, tropical habitats. The Bengal tiger is actually the same species as all tigers. But just as an Asiatic lion differs slightly from an African lion, the Bengal tiger differs slightly from other forms of the tiger.
Like most wild cats, except for lions, tigers spend most of their lives on their own. Male and female tigers usually gather to mate between November and April. Three to four months later, a female tiger gives birth to up to six cubs. Usually, though, she gives birth to only two or three cubs.
Breeding and Development
In the wild, lions do not appear to have regular breeding seasons. Females come into heat at intervals ranging from three weeks to several months. They remain in heat for a few days, usually mating with only one male during that time.
The cubs—from two to six, but commonly three, to a litter—are born about 14 to 15 weeks after breeding. They are spotted, and are sometimes striped also. Their eyes usually open four to six days after birth. The lioness suckles the cubs six to eight months. Cubs are totally dependent on adults for food until they are at least two years old. Mortality among cubs is high; only about 20 per cent live beyond two years. The cubs lose most of their spots when they are about a year old. At this time the lioness begins to teach them to hunt.
The males generally begin to develop manes when they are three years old. At this age lions are mature. They reach their peak at six or seven years of age. Lions have been known to live 25 to 30 years in captivity, but few lions in the wild live longer than 15 years.
How Many Cubs Are in a Litter?A lioness is ready to mate between the ages of 3 and 4. About 3 1/2 months after mating, she gives birth to a litter of one to five cubs.
Lion cubs can’t see at birth because their eyes are closed for the first few days of their lives. They are completely dependent on their mother for food and protection. At first, the mother nurses them with her milk. Then, after the cubs are about 6 weeks old, she leads them to an animal she has killed. That’s when the cubs get their first taste of meat.
Lions in a pride usually mate around the same time. As a result, the females give birth to their litters around the same time, too. This helps both the mothers and the pride as a whole. A mother lioness can count on other mothers to “cubsit” her young. One female may even nurse another female’s cubs.
What Is Life Like for Cubs?Cubs spend their days sleeping, nursing, and gradually eating more and more meat. They also do a lot of playing. Cubs wrestle and chase each other. They also chase just about anything small that moves. Through playing, cubs learn skills they will need later in life when they must hunt and defend themselves.
In time, a mother lioness weans her cubs, or gradually stops feeding them her milk. From then on, the cubs eat meat. At just over a year, lion cubs are bigger than the adults of most other kinds of wild cats and weigh about 100 pounds (45 kilograms).
Female cubs usually stay with a pride their entire lives. Adult males, however, chase young males from the pride when the younger males turn 2 or 3. Often, the young males wander together until they are about 5. When they are strong enough, they will try to take over a pride and its territory.
The Lion In Literature and Art
Literature is rich in lions, from the lions of Daniel and Samson to the cowardly lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The lion appears in several of Aesop's fables and in fables by LaFontaine and others. The first labor of Hercules was to kill the Nemean lion, a huge beast that was terrifying the people in the valley of Nemea. The ancient tale of Androcles and the lion is about a grateful lion.
The lion appears in the most ancient sculptures of Babylonia and Assyria. There, lions were often set up as the symbolic guardians of the portals. Sculptured lions stand at the entrances of some modern buildings, such as the Art Institute of Chicago. In ancient Egypt the lion's body, symbolizing power, virtue, and wisdom, was often given the head of the ruler. The Sphinx is the most famous of these ruler-lion sculptures.
Among famous lion sculptures are the Lion of St. Mark, in Venice; those in the Court of Lions, in Spain's Alhambra ; and the Lion of Lucerne, in Lucerne, Switzerland.
As a symbol of courage, the lion is widely used in heraldry. It has been the symbol of England since the Middle Ages.
The African lion is Panthera leo; the Asiatic, P. l. persica. Lions belong to the cat family, Felidae.