Facts about Lion
Lionesses do the majority of the hunting for their pride, being smaller, swifter, and more agile than the males, and unencumbered by the heavy and conspicuous mane, which causes overheating during exertion.
Admiration for the co-operative hunting strategies of lionesses was evident in very ancient times.
The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked, which may have arisen out of utility, as a lion cannot lick these areas individually.
Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes (spots) on their body, rather like those of a leopard.
Such descriptions specified whether lions or other creatures were "rampant" or "passant," that is whether they were rearing or crouching.
Lions in captivity tend to be larger than lions in the wild: the heaviest lion on record is a male at Colchester Zoo in England named Simba in 1970, who weighed 375 kilograms (826 pounds).
Lions and spotted hyenas are both apex predators that feed on the same prey, and are therefore in direct competition with one another.
Representations of lions date back 32 centuries; the lion-headed ivory carving from the Vogelherd cave in the Swabian Alb in southwestern Germany has been determined to be about 32,000 years old from the Aurignacian culture.
Found famously on numerous flags and coats of arms all across Asia and Europe, the Asiatic lions also stand firm on the National Emblem of India.
Smaller prey, though, may simply be killed by a swipe of a lion's paw.
A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males.
A lioness is weaker and much lighter than a male; success is more likely when a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against one male.
Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s.
Nomadic lionesses rarely manage to raise their cubs to maturity, without the protection of other pride members.
Careful examination of the lion deities noted in many ancient cultures reveal that many also are lionesses.
Most lionesses will have reproduced by the time they are four years of age.
The mane of the adult male lion, unique among cats, is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the species.
During the upper Pleistocene the lion spread to North and South America, and there appeared the subspecies Panthera leo atrox, the American lion.
Extensive statistics collected over various studies show that lions normally feed on mammals in the range 190 to 550 kilograms (420-1210 pounds).
An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests that the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—which in turn are thought to have derived from varanid lizards (Sanchez 2007).
About 300 lions live in a 1,412 kmІ (558 square miles) sanctuary in the state of Gujarat, which covers most of the forest.
The Mfuwe and Tsavo incidents bear similarities: The lions in both incidents were larger than normal, lacked manes, and seemed to suffer from tooth decay.
The color of the male's mane varies from blond to black, generally becoming darker as the lion grows older.
Lions also attack domestic livestock; in India, cattle contribute significantly to their diet.
Head rubbing—nuzzling one's forehead, face, and neck against another lion—appears to be a form of greeting, as it is seen often after an animal has been apart from others, or after a fight or confrontation.
The lack of a mane sometimes is found in inbred lion populations; inbreeding also results in poor fertility.
Weights for adult lions generally lie between 150 to 250 kilograms (330–550 pounds) for males and 120 to 182 kilograms (264–400 pounds) for females.
The skull of the lion is very similar to that of the tiger, though the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened, with a slightly shorter postorbital region.
A common depiction is their representation as "king of the jungle" or "king of the beasts"; hence, the lion has been a popular symbol of royalty and stateliness, as well as a symbol of bravery.
Note that a lion may switch lifestyles; nomads may become residents and vice versa.
The lion's proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined.
The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.
Other benefits include possible kin selection (better to share food with a related lion than with a stranger), protection of the young, maintenance of territory, and individual insurance against injury and hunger.
Lions are major killers of cheetah cubs, up to ninety percent of which are lost in their first weeks of life due to attacks by other predators.
In both, the hunters who killed the lions wrote books detailing the animals' predatory behavior.
Lions typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest.
Lions tend to dominate smaller felines such as cheetahs and leopards in areas where there ranges overlap.
A population of the Asiatic lion survived until the tenth century in the Caucasus, their last European outpost.
Estimates of the 2002 African lion population in the wild ranges between 16,500 and 47,000, down from early 1990s estimates that ranged as high as 100,000, and perhaps 400,000 in 1950.
The lion has been an icon used by humanity for thousands of years, appearing in cultures across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The lion is used as a symbol of current sporting teams, from national association football teams such as England, Scotland, and Singapore to clubs such as the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.
The lion is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and later the Kingdom of Judah.
Singh is an ancient Indian vedic name meaning "lion" (Asiatic lion), dating back over 2000 years to ancient India.
The lion is the only felid to have a tufted tail—the function of the tuft and spine are unknown.
The closest relatives of the lion are the other Panthera species: the tiger, the jaguar, and the leopard.
Leopards also use such tactics, but have the advantage of being able to subsist much better on small prey than either lions or cheetahs.
An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of meat per day, a male about 7 kilograms (15.4 pounds).
Lions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for about 20 hours per day.
Today, typically only eight subspecies are accepted, but one of these (the Cape lion, formerly described as Panthera leo melanochaita) probably is invalid.
The relationship between lions and spotted hyenas in areas where they coexist is unique in its complexity and intensity.
Morphology was used to identify subspecies such as the Barbary lion and Cape lion.
The lion and leopard subsequently separated about 1 to 1.25 million years ago from each other.
The now iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American Clyde Beatty (1903–1965).
The classic Babylonian lion motif, found as a statue, carved or painted on walls, is often referred to as the striding lion of Babylon.
When first introduced to the rest of the pride, the cubs initially lack confidence when confronted with adult lions other than their mother.
Conversely, hyenas are major predators of lion cubs, and will harass lionesses over kills.
The marozi is reputedly a spotted lion or a naturally occurring leopon, while the Congolese Spotted Lion is a complex lion-jaguar-leopard hybrid called a lijagulep.
The lion has been extensively depicted in literature, in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature.
Roman notables, including Sulla, Pompey, and Julius Caesar, often ordered the mass slaughter of hundreds of lions at a time.
Lion coloration varies from light buff to yellowish, reddish, or dark ochraceous brown.
Lions died out in northern Eurasia and America at the end of the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago; this may have been secondary to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna.
Lions do not mate at any specific time of year, and the females are polyestrous.
Lions have been known to breed with tigers (most often the Siberian and Bengal subspecies) to create hybrids called ligers and tigons.
Lions from Tsavo in Eastern Kenya are much closer genetically to lions in Transvaal (South Africa), than to those in the Aberdare Range in Western Kenya.
The drawings do suggest that the extinct species used the same social organization and hunting strategies as contemporary lions.
Traditionally, twelve recent subspecies of lion were recognized, the largest of which has been recognized as the Barbary lion.
The lion is the tallest (at the shoulder) of the felines and also is the second-heaviest feline after the tiger.
Later in Roman times, lions were kept by emperors to take part in the gladiator arenas.
Sexual selection of mates by lionesses appears to favor males with the densest, darkest mane.
Lion-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of lions in combat with other animals, usually dogs.
Cave lions are also depicted in the Chauvet Cave, discovered in 1994; this has been dated at 32,000 years of age, though it may be of similar or younger age to Lascaux.
Lion's prey consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for wildebeest, impalas, zebras, buffalo, and warthogs in Africa and nilgai, wild boar, and several deer species in India.
Until the late Pleistocene (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans.
A man-eating lion was killed by game scouts in Southern Tanzania in April 2004.
The Nile crocodile is the only sympatric predator (besides humans) that can singly threaten the lion.
Lions were kept and bred by Assyrian kings as early as 850 B.C.E., and Alexander the Great was said to have been presented with tame lions by the Malhi of northern India.
About 1.9 million years ago the jaguar branched off the remaining group, which contained ancestors of the leopard and lion.
A rival menagerie at the Exeter Exchange also exhibited lions until the early nineteenth century.
Lions have been kept in menageries since Roman times and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos the world over since the late eighteenth century.
The infirmity theory links lion attacks to physical problems in the lions, including tooth decay, or being sick or injured.
Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates.
Herodotus reported that lions had been common in Greece around 480 B.C.E.
Along with millions of Hindu Rajputs today, it is also used by over 20 million Sikhs worldwide.
Lion populations are untenable outside of designated reserves and national parks.
In Africa, lions can be found in savanna grasslands with scattered Acacia trees, which serve as shade;.
The males of the Asiatic subspecies, however, are characterized by sparser manes than average African lions.
The lion population in the region of West Africa is isolated from lion populations of Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals.
Lions are frequently depicted on coats of arms, either as a device on shields themselves, or as supporters.
Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.
Wildebeest rank at the top of preferred prey (making nearly half of the lion prey in the Serengeti) followed by zebra.
The lion is the second-largest living cat after the tiger, with some males exceeding 250 kilograms (550 pounds).
Despite incidents of attacks on humans, lions have enjoyed a largely positive depiction in culture as strong but noble creatures.
The cheetah has a fifty percent chance of losing its kill to lions or other predators.
The oldest confirmed records of Panthera leo in Africa are about 2 million years younger.
Maneless male lions have been reported in Senegal and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, and the original male white lion from Timbavati also was maneless.
Lions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism—that is, males and females look distinctly different.
Some individual lions consistently lead the defense against intruders, while others lag behind.
Lions are powerful animals who usually hunt in coordinated groups and stalk their chosen prey.
Hyenas are also associated with divination and sometimes thought of as tools of demons and witches.
The lion was a prominent symbol in both the Old Babylonian and Neo-Babylonian Empire periods.
The lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume, often with musical accompaniment from cymbals, drums, and gongs.
When resting, lion socialization occurs through a number of behaviors, and the animal's expressive movements are highly developed.
The menagerie was open to the public by the eighteenth century; admission was a sum of three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions.
Similarly, lions dominate African wild dogs, not only taking their kills but also preying on both young and adult dogs (although the latter are rarely caught).
Martin composed a pantomime titled Les Lions de Mysore ("the lions of Mysore"), an idea that Amburgh quickly borrowed.
Lion taming refers to the practice of taming lions for entertainment, either as part of an established circus or as an individual act.
Today, lions are largely limited to Africa, with a smaller population in India.
The top row of whiskers form a pattern that differs in every lion; this unique pattern, known as "whisker spots," is used by researchers to identify specific animals in the field.
The lion has seen a rapid and possibly irreversible population decline in its African range.
From this lion there derived the later cave lion (Panthera leo spelaea), which appeared about 300,000 years ago.
The prey also may be killed by the lion enclosing the animal's mouth and nostrils in its jaws (which would also result in asphyxia).
Culturally, the lion (and particularly the male with its highly distinctive mane) is one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human culture.
The lion is a Vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of 30 to 50 percent over the past two decades in its African range.
Widely seen in captivity, lions are part of a group of exotic animals that are the core of zoo exhibits since the late eighteenth century.
An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology, suggests that the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs—extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous—which in turn are thought to have derived from varanid lizards (Sanchez 2007).
Lions tend to vary in size depending on their environment and area, resulting in a wide spread in recorded weights.
Young lions first display stalking behavior around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old.
The island nation of Singapore (Singapura) derives its name from the Malay words singa (lion) and pura (city), which in turn is from the Tamil-Sanskrit ????? singa ???? si?ha and ??? ??? pura.
Cases in Lindi have been documented where lions seize humans from the center of substantial villages.
Lions are predatory carnivores who manifest two types of social organization.
Lions tend to roar in a very characteristic manner, starting with a few deep, long roars that trail off into a series of shorter ones.
The oldest lion-like fossil is known from Laetoli site in Tanzania and is perhaps 3.5 million years old; some scientists have identified the material as Panthera leo.
The lioness later achieved fame, her life being documented in a series of books and films.
Lion sounds include snarling, purring, hissing, coughing, miaowing, woofing, and roaring.
Outside these areas, the issues arising from lions' interaction with livestock and people usually results in the elimination of the former.
Most lions now live in eastern and southern Africa, with an estimated 30 to 50 percent decline over the last two decades.
Lions also have been crossed with leopards to produce leopons, and jaguars to produce jaglions.
Wild lions currently exist mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India in Asia, having disappeared from North Africa, the Middle East, and Western Asia in historic times.
Male lions reach maturity at about 3 years of age and, at 4 to 5 years of age, are capable of challenging and displacing the adult male(s) associated with another pride.
The tolerance of the male lions towards the cubs varies: sometimes, a male will patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, whereas another may snarl and bat the cubs away.
The former popularity of the Barbary lion as a zoo animal has meant that scattered lions in captivity are likely to be descended from Barbary lion stock.
The Nemean lion was symbolic in Ancient Greece and Rome, represented as the constellation and zodiac sign Leo, and described in mythology, where its skin was borne by the hero Heracles.
Male lions in particular are extremely aggressive toward hyenas, and have been observed to hunt and kill hyenas without eating them.
Like other animals, lions were seen as little more than a natural, boundless commodity that was mercilessly exploited with terrible losses in capture and transportation.
Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females; membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses, although some females do leave and become nomadic.
Two lions were depicted mating in the Chamber of Felines in 15,000-year-old Paleolithic cave paintings in the Lascaux caves.
Research has suggested, however, that environmental factors influence the color and size of a lion's mane, such as the ambient temperature.
The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger.
The Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project plans to establish a second independent population of Asiatic lions at the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs.
A lioness often will attempt to defend her cubs fiercely from a usurping male, but such actions are rarely successful.
Lionesses do most of the hunting; males attached to prides do not usually participate in hunting, except in the case of larger quarry such as giraffe and buffalo.
Why sociality—the most pronounced in any cat species—has developed in lionesses is the subject of much debate.
A lion may gorge itself and eat up to 30 kilograms (66 pounds) in one sitting; if it is unable to consume all the kill it will rest for a few hours before consuming more.
Lions have almost no predators. However, old, sick lions are sometimes attacked, killed and eaten by hyenas. And very young lions can be killed by hyenas, leopards and other predators when they are not being watched carefully by their mothers. But a healthy adult lion has little to fear from any other animal.Apr 6, 2010
Despite what Simba would have you believe, spotted hyenas don't just scavenge for lion leftovers. Spotted hyenas hunt and kill in packs. Ninety-five percent of what a hyena eats comes from hunting. A group of hyenas can devour an entire zebra, leaving no leftovers—not even the bones—in under half an hour.May 1, 2015
Explain that adult lions have 30 teeth and adult humans have between 28 and 32. As kids, however, humans only have 20 teeth and they are temporary, or “baby” teeth. Ask students to compare the size (length) of their canine teeth to those of lions and adult humans.
A lion or tiger can roar as loud as 114 decibels, about 25 times louder than a gas-powered lawn mower. The cats are also aided by the strength of their vocal folds, which can withstand stretching and shearing as air moves past them and the folds vibrate.Nov 3, 2011
Lions live in groups that are called prides. Ten to forty lions may live in a pride. Each pride has a home area that is called its territory. Lions do not allow other carnivores (meat-eating animals) to hunt in their territory. A territory can be as large as 260 square kilometres (100 square miles).
Behavior. Females do 85 to 90 percent of the pride's hunting, while the males patrol the territory and protect the pride, for which they take the "lion's share" of the females' prey. When resting, lions seem to enjoy good fellowship with lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring.
The acronym L-I-O-N stands for LinkedIn Open Networker. LIONs are LinkedIn members open to networking with everyone, previously known or not. The LION genera lly accepts every invitation request to connect or, at the least, will not click the “I Don't Know” button in response to an invitation.Jul 12, 2012
The lion symbolizes strength, courage and leadership. In one word Dharma. The roar is considered as one of voices of Goddess. A lion's roar stops you, it is a terror that shakes you up and draws you into something beautiful.Jul 6, 2014
The name Lion is an English baby name. In English the meaning of the name Lion is: Lion. The lion is a figure in art and religious symbolism of many cultures; symbolizing kingliness and grandeur and courage.
A baby animal usually has a particular name. Most of remember that a baby lion is a cub, but do you know when a baby is a pup, a kit, a cub or something else entirely? Even if you don't know what to call them, you won't want to miss their cute photos!Aug 14, 2014
Lions usually hunt at night. Their prey includes antelopes, buffaloes, zebras, young elephants, rhinos, hippos, wild hogs, crocodiles and giraffes. But they also sometimes eat smaller prey like mice, birds, hares, lizards, and tortoises.
African lions are the most social of all big cats and live together in groups or “prides.” A pride consists of about 15 lions. ... Male lions defend the pride's territory while females do most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.Jun 29, 2011
The lion symbolizes strength, courage and leadership. In one word Dharma. The roar is considered as one of voices of Goddess. A lion's roar stops you, it is a terror that shakes you up and draws you into something beautiful.Jul 6, 2014
Male lions start to grow manes around the age of two years, which signals the onset of sexual maturity. ... Lion manes serve a similar function as this typical cat behavior; the size and density of the mane can help a lion appear larger, and therefore more threatening, warning away possible opponents.Mar 18, 2014
Lions have almost no predators. However, old, sick lions are sometimes attacked, killed and eaten by hyenas. And very young lions can be killed by hyenas, leopards and other predators when they are not being watched carefully by their mothers. But a healthy adult lion has little to fear from any other animal.Apr 6, 2010
Behavior. Both male and female lions roar, and that roar can be heard over five miles away! The only social member of the cat (Felidae) family, lions live in large groups called "prides," consisting of about 15 lions. Related females and their young make up the majority of the pride.
The Gaekwad favored the lion, and as a result had to pay 37,000 rupees as the lion was mauled by the tiger. The Amur or Siberian tiger is the largest subspecies of the Panthera genus, known to weigh up to 800 lbs (360 kg), while large African lions weigh up to 550 lbs (250 kg).May 29, 2013
Grizzly bear will always win in head to head fight with African lion because grizzlies are stronger, taller, and heavier. They also have the bigger paws with stronger deadly swipes than lion, though they are smaller than polar bear but still they are the stronger and dangerous than all other bears in the world.Aug 14, 2014
In the wild, they can live up to 14 years. Lions range in color from yellow to dark brown, with a long tail that ends in a furry black tuft. The male lion is unique among the cat species for its thick mane of hair encircling the neck and head. Both males and females roar, a sound that can be heard from five miles away.
Nearly all wild lions live in sub-Saharan Africa, but one small population of Asiatic lions exists in India's Gir Forest. Asiatic lions and African lions are subspecies of the same species. Asiatic lions once prowled from the Middle East to India.
The lion symbolizes strength, courage and leadership. In one word Dharma. The roar is considered as one of voices of Goddess. A lion's roar stops you, it is a terror that shakes you up and draws you into something beautiful.Jul 6, 2014