General Characteristics: Lion, (Panthera Leo), Large, Powerfully Built

Lion, (Panthera leo), large, powerfully built
cat (family Felidae) that

is second in size only to the tiger. The proverbial “king of beasts,” the
lion has been one of the best-known wild animals since earliest times.
Lions are most active at night and live in a variety of habitats but
prefer grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland.
Historically, they ranged across much of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but
now they are found mainly in parts of Africa south of the Sahara. An
isolated population of about 650 Asiatic lions constitute a slightly
smaller race that lives under strict protection in India’s Gir National
Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.
General characteristics
The lion is a well-muscled cat with a long body, large head, and short
legs. Size and appearance vary considerably between the sexes. The
male’s outstanding characteristic is his mane, which varies between
different individuals and populations. It may be entirely lacking; it
may fringe the face; or it may be full and shaggy, covering the back of
the head, neck, and shoulders and continuing onto the throat and
chest to join a fringe along the belly. In some lions the mane and
fringe are very dark, almost black, giving the cat a majestic
appearance. Manes make males look larger and may serve to
intimidate rivals or impress prospective mates. A full-grown male is
about 1.8–2.1 metres (6–7 feet) long, excluding the 1-metre tail; he
stands about 1.2 metres high at the shoulder and weighs 170–230 kg
(370–500 pounds). The female, or lioness, is smaller, with a body
length of 1.5 metres, a shoulder height of 0.9–1.1 metres, and a weight
of 120–180 kg. The lion’s coat is short and varies in colour from buff
yellow, orange-brown, or silvery gray to dark brown, with a tuft on the
tail tip that is usually darker than the rest of the coat.
Male lion (Panthera leo) in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya.
© Photodisc/Thinkstock
lion
Lioness (Panthera leo).
© Digital Vision/Getty Images
Prides
Lions are unique among cats in that they live in a group, or pride. The
members of a pride typically spend the day in several scattered groups
that may unite to hunt or share a meal. A pride consists of several
generations of lionesses, some of which are related, a smaller number
of breeding males, and their cubs. The group may consist of as few as 4
or as many as 37 members, but about 15 is the average size. Each pride
has a well-defined territory consisting of a core area that is strictly
defended against intruding lions and a fringe area where some overlap
is tolerated. Where prey is abundant, a territory area may be as small
as 20 square km (8 square miles), but if game is sparse, it may cover
up to 400 square km. Some prides have been known to use the same
territory for decades, passing the area on between females. Lions
proclaim their territory by roaring and by scent marking. Their
distinctive roar is generally delivered in the evening before a
night’s hunting and again before getting up at dawn. Males also
proclaim their presence by urinating on bushes, trees, or simply on the
ground, leaving a pungent scent behind. Defecation and rubbing
against bushes leave different scent markings.
Pride of lions (Panthera leo).

© Guido Amrein/Dreamstime.com
There are a number of competing evolutionary explanations for why
lions form groups. Large body size and high density of their main prey
probably make group life more efficient for females in terms of energy
expenditure. Groups of females, for example, hunt more effectively
and are better able to defend cubs against infanticidal males and their
hunting territory against other females. The relative importance of
these factors is debated, and it is not clear which was responsible for
the establishment of group life and which are secondary benefits.
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content.Subscribe
Now
Hunting
Lions prey on a large variety of animals ranging in size
from rodents and baboons to Cape (or African)
buffalo and hippopotamuses, but they predominantly hunt medium-
to large-sized hoofed animals such as wildebeests, zebras,
and antelopes. Prey preferences vary geographically as well as between
neighbouring prides. Lions are known to take elephants and giraffes,
but only if the individual is young or especially sick. They readily eat
any meat they can find, including carrion and fresh kills that they
scavenge or forcefully steal from hyenas, cheetahs, or wild dogs.
Lionesses living in open savanna do most of the hunting, whereas
males typically appropriate their meals from the female’s kills.
However, male lions are also adept hunters, and in some areas they
hunt frequently. Pride males in scrub or wooded habitat spend less
time with the females and hunt most of their own meals. Nomadic
males must always secure their own food.
Lions chasing a warthog.

© Digital Vision/Getty Images
Though a group of hunting lions is potentially nature’s
most formidable predatory force on land, a high proportion of their
hunts fail. The cats pay no attention to the wind’s direction (which can
carry their scent to their prey), and they tire after running short
distances. Typically, they stalk prey from nearby cover and then burst
forth to run it down in a short, rapid rush. After leaping on the prey,
the lion lunges at its neck and bites until the animal has been
strangled. Other members of the pride quickly crowd around to feed
on the kill, usually fighting for access. Hunts are sometimes conducted
in groups, with members of a pride encircling a herd or approaching it
from opposite directions, then closing in for a kill in the resulting
panic. The cats typically gorge themselves and then rest for several
days in its vicinity. An adult male can consume more than 34 kg (75
pounds) of meat at a single meal and rest for a week before resuming
the hunt. If prey is abundant, both sexes typically spend 21 to 22 hours
a day resting, sleeping, or sitting and hunt for only 2 or 3 hours a day.
Reproduction and life cycle
Both sexes are polygamous and breed throughout the year, but
females are usually restricted to the one or two adult males of their
pride. In captivity lions often breed every year, but in the wild they
usually breed no more than once in two years. Females are receptive to
mating for three or four days within a widely variable reproductive
cycle. During this time a pair generally mates every 20–30 minutes,
with up to 50 copulations per 24 hours. Such extended copulation not
only stimulates ovulation in the female but also secures paternity for
the male by excluding other males. The gestation period is about 108
days, and the litter size varies from one to six cubs, two to four being
usual.
Newborn cubs are helpless and blind and have a thick coat with dark
spots that usually disappear with maturity. Cubs are able to follow
their mothers at about three months of age and are weaned by six or
seven months. They begin participating in kills by 11 months but
probably cannot survive on their own until they are two years old.
Although lionesses will nurse cubs other than their own, they are
surprisingly inattentive mothers and often leave their cubs alone for
up to 24 hours. There is a corresponding high mortality rate (e.g., 86
percent in the Serengeti), but survival rates improve after the age of
two. In the wild, sexual maturity is reached at three or four years of
age. Some female cubs remain within the pride when they attain
sexual maturity, but others are forced out and join other prides or
wander as nomads. Male cubs are expelled from the pride at about
three years of age and become nomads until they are old enough to try
to take over another pride (after age five). Many adult males remain
nomads for life. Mating opportunities for nomad males are rare, and
competition between male lions to defend a pride’s territory and mate
with the pride females is fierce. Cooperating partnerships of two to
four males are more successful at maintaining tenure with a pride than
individuals, and larger coalitions father more surviving offspring per
male. Small coalitions typically comprise related

General Characteristics: Lion, (Panthera Leo), Large, Powerfully Built

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

General Characteristics: Lion, (Panthera Leo), Large, Powerfully Built

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

General Characteristics: Lion, (Panthera Leo), Large, Powerfully Built

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lion, (Panthera leo), large, powerfully built

cat (family Felidae) that

Pride of lions (Panthera leo).

Lions chasing a warthog.

You might also like