LION; THIRD FASTEST ANIMAL ON EARTH

One of Africa's Big Five, the lion is a carnivore (meat eater) and a hunter. It uses its powerful forelegs to grab or slap down large prey.Its legs are short with very powerful muscles enabling it to sprint and bring down large prey.

Invincible Lion of Self Paramahansa Yogananda

Mane

• The mane of the adult male lion is unique among cats and is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the species.It makes the lion appear larger, providing an excellent intimidation display.
• The colour of the male's mane varies from blond to black, generally darkens with age.

Territories

• Lions are the only cats that live in groups,usually of 3 or more up to 2.5 dozens.



Add caption

• Males defend the pride's territory, which may include some 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) of grasslands, scrub, or open woodlands
• These intimidating animals mark the area with urine, roar menacingly to warn intruders, and chase off animals that encroach on their turf.

Lions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for about 20 hours per day.The average sleep time of a captive lion is said to be 13 and a half hours.

Subspecies

• Traditionally twelve recent subspecies of lion were recognised.Today only eight subspecies are usually accepted.
• Lions have been known to breed with tigers to create hybrids called ligers and tiglons. They also have been crossed with leopards to produce leopons,and jaguars to produce jaglions.
• The white lion is a special morph with a genetic condition,leucism, that causes paler colouration.

Measurements

• The lion is the tallest of all living cats, shoulder height is up to 123 cm (4 ft) in males and 91 cm (3 ft) in females.

• Head and body length is 170–250 cm (5 ft 7 in – 8 ft 2 in) in males and 140–175 cm (4 ft 7 in – 5 ft 9 in) in females.
• The tail length is 90–105 cm (2 ft 11 in - 3 ft 5 in) in males and 70–100 cm in females (2 ft 4 in – 3 ft 3 in)
• Weights for adult lions range between 150–250 kg (330–550 lb) for males and 120–182 kg (264–400 lb) for females.
• Male lions are 20 to 35% larger than the females and 50% heavier.
• 
  

Communication

• Lions communicate through body contact. Passing lions of the same pride greet each other by rubbing their cheeks together.

Hunting and Diet

• Lions are powerful animals that usually hunt in groups but,they are not particularly known for their stamina.

• Thus, they only run fast in short bursts, and need to be close to their prey (30 meters or less) before starting the attack.
• They usually target the closest prey. The attack is short and powerful.
• The lioness is the one who does the hunting while male lion usually stays and watches its young ones.
• The prey consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for wildebeest, impalas, zebras,buffalo, warthogs,nilgai, wild boar, and several deer species.
• An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day, a male about 7 kg (15.5 lb)

Population and Habitat

• Most lions now live in eastern and southern Africa, and their numbers there are rapidly decreasing, 30–50% for last two decades.
• Some subspecies now survives in and around the Gir Forest of northwestern India.Their numbers are slowly increasing.
• Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004
• Habitat loss and conflicts with humans are primary cause of decline of population.
• They have 10 to 14years of life in wild but,they can live for more than 20 years in captivity.