Whether giving great roar, shaking that massive mane, playing with his cubs or fighting to keep his ladies safe, everyone loves to watch lions. Lion has to be the most fascinating animal in the world. Did you know that the majority of hunting is carried out by lionesses, either alone or in pairs? Below are some intriguing facts
Family: Felidae
Scientific name: Panthera leo
Common name: Lion
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Status: Vulnerable A2abcd ver3.1
Population estimate (in the wild): 20,000
Population trend: Decreasing
These magnificent creatures were once found across most of Africa. They now occur only in the south Sahara desert and in parts of southern and eastern Africa. Historically lions were also found from Greece through the Middle East to northern India. Lions have vanished from over 90% of their historic range, with the biggest decline occurring in the last 2 decades. They are now extinct in 26 African countries. However, now they are found in only two areas of the world and are classified into two subspecies. Asiatic lions live in India’s Gir Forest; African lions live in central and southern and eastern Africa.
1.African lions have a wide habitat, and can live almost everywhere. They wander a territory of 100 square miles (259 square kilometers), according to National Geographic. Resident male lions regularly mark their territory by spraying vegetation with urine and by scuff-marking. Females spray occasionally. This territory consists of scrub, grasslands or open woodlands, even penetrating deep into deserts along watercourses, except in rainforests. Lion is regarded as the king of the jungle as it lies at the top of the food chain which means it has no predators naturally to hunt it down
2. African lions are the largest of the African cats (second largest in the family Felidae, with the tiger being the largest). Males can reach a shoulder height of around 1.2 meters and weigh around 150 – 225 kg and females are around 1 meter in shoulder height, and weigh between 110-152kg.
3.Lions are the only social member of the cat (Felidae) family living in large groups called prides. Lion prides are fission-fusion societies; pride members come and go and are rarely all together at once. There can be anywhere from 2 to 40 lions in a pride where related females (one dominant) and their young make up the majority of the pride. A single male, or sometimes a small group of 2-3 males, will join a pride for an indefinite period, usually about 3 years or until another group of males takes over.
4. Male lions are generally larger than females and have a distinctive mane of hair around their heads. The mane’s function is to make the male look more impressive to females and more intimidating to other males, according to the San Diego Zoo. The mane also protects the male’s neck during fights over territory or mating rights. A good gauge of a male lion’s age is the darkness of his mane, the darker the mane, the older the lion (The rate of mane development is mostly controlled by testosterone).
5.Male lions start to roar at 1 year of age and females start shortly after this. The male’s roar is both louder and deeper than the female’s. Lions can roar at any time, but they typically stand or crouch while roaring. Roaring serves to advertise territories, to communicate with other pride members, and to demonstrate aggressions toward enemy lions. Lions also roar in chorus; this may be a form of social bonding.

6.The color of a lion’s coat varies from region to region, and within populations. However, it is found that lions that live in areas where it is either cooler or have higher humidity levels tend to have darker fur – such as the desert-adapted lions in Namibia and the black-maned lions of the Kalahari. You also get white lions, but these are not true albinos but are rather genetic variants with strongly reduced pigmentation.
Lions within a pride are often affectionate and, when resting, seem to enjoy good fellowship with lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring, they may sleep up to 20 hours a day in the shade. Lionesses do 90% of the hunting by working in teams to stalk and ambush prey The Showy males have more difficulty hunting than females because of their conspicuousness. In return for protecting the lionesses and patrolling the territory, the males take the first bite from the kills.
7.Lions are obligate carnivores which mean they can only live on meat. They usually hunt in groups, but the actual killing is done by an individual lion. They frequently bring down prey much bigger than they are themselves. Lion will kill anything from mice and lizard for a quick snack and up to zebras, wildebeests, Thompson’s gazelles, buffalos, warthogs, hartebeests, and topis provide 90% of their diet. . But also they will scavenge and chase off other predators such as hyenas or wild dogs from their kills.

Female lions are polyestrous, breeding throughout the year and peaking in the rainy season. Female lions tend to have cubs every 2 years. However, if a female’s cubs are killed (usually by an intruding male lion), then the female comes into oestrus early and has more cubs. Females are able to breed at 4 years of age and males at 5 years. Lions will mate roughly every thirty minutes (each mating lasting for around 20 seconds) for three days… nonstop! This is to ensure fertilization during the female oestrus period so that the cubs will be born as soon as possible, allowing for longer protection under the pride male.
A lion’s heels don’t touch the ground when it walks. When it comes to claws, lions have four on their back feet, but five on the front where the dew claw is found. The dew claw does not show in their spoor (foot print), and acts like a thumb that is used to hold down prey. The estimated maximum and fastest speed of a lion in short bursts is 80 km/hr or 50 miles/hour.
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Panthera_leo/
https://africageographic.com/blog/15-lion-facts-need-to-know/
https://wildlifeact.com/about-wildlife-act/wildlife-species/lion-panthera-leo/
Email us at [email protected] for an African Safari in East Africa search for lions