Lions

The lion's coat is a yellow-gold color and the male lions have a brown or black mane. Male lions are the only cats that have one. The mane surrounds the male's head and helps protect his neck in fights with other males. Both male and female lions roar, and that roar can be heard almost 5 miles (8 km) away. The females are smaller than the males, and they are also more agile and faster than the males too. Males grow up to 10 feet long plus the length of the tail, about 2 to 3 feet. They weigh between 330 to 550 pounds and stand about 4 feet tall, paw to shoulder when on all four paws. The females grow to about 9 feet long plus the tail of 2 to 3 feet. They weigh between 265 and 400 pounds. They stand about 3.5 feet tall, paw to shoulder when on all fours. Lion cubs are born with light spots that go away as they age.

Aisan Lions live in India's Gir Forest. Aisan Lions used to roam from the Middle East to India, and now they are confined to the dry teak woods of the Gir Forest. There are about 200 or so of these lions in the wild and about 200 more in zoos.

African Lions live in sub-Saharan Africa. Lions live in the savannas, grasslands, and woodlands in Africa. They are not found in the areas covered by tropical forest.

Lions hunt and scavange for their food. Scavaging provides the lions with about half of the food they eat. Because they hunt in groups, lions are able to kill buffalo, rhinos, hippos, and giraffes. They also hunt antelope, zebra, wildebeast, baby elephants, rodents, reptiles and insects. They will also take livestock if it is available.

Lions live in groups called a pride. It consists of up to 3 males, a dozen females, or so, and their cubs. The young males eventually leave the pride and look for a pride to make their own, usually by taking over a pride run by another male. All the females in the pride are related to each other. Only males that have a pride are allowed to mate. The female will go into heat a few weeks after the loss of her cubs, so males that have recently won the pride will kill all the young cubs. Once the female becomes pregnant it takes about 4 months before the cubs are born. Each female has a litter of 2 or 3 cubs at a time. The cub weighs about 3 pounds at birth. Usually there is more than one female giving birth at a time and they permit any cub to suckle from them. This is an advantage to the cubs if one of the mothers neglects her cubs they still have a chance to survive by suckling on the other mother. A cub can hunt by 2 years old and is full grown between 5 and 6 years old.

Lions spend a large part of their day sleeping, up to 20 hours a day. When they are awake the males and females do different things. The females do the majority of the hunting, about 90%. Males spend their time marking their territory, by spraying it with urine. Their territory usually consists of about 100 square miles. They will roar to warn intruders and chase away animals that wander into their territory. They also fight other males to maintain control of their pride and mating rights. The male lion also has the job of "babysitter" while the females are out hunting. Someone has to watch the cubs that are too little to hunt.

Aisan Lions are an endangered species. There are only about 200 or so in the wild.

African lions are estimated to have 6,000 to 10,000 living in the wild. The only natural habitat for these lions is on protected reserves.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Morguefile
Free Range Stock
National Geographic
African Wildlife Foundation
Defenders of Wildlife
San Diego Zoo