big cats: lions, king of the jungle

7/29/2019 Big cats: Lions, king of the jungle

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Lions, kings of thejungle

Lions (introduction)

Lions are carnivorous mammals that come from thefamily Felidae. They are geographically distributed inmostly sub-Saharan east and southern Africa but canalso be found in zoos internationally, India and someparts of Asia . The population of these vulnerable

animals has dramatically decreased in the past fewdecades with no solid reason as to why. It is thoughtthat clashes with humans and habitat loss may be apossibility, but to help further preserve and monitorthese creatures, they are usually kept withinreserves and parks. Only eight sub species arerecognized today and there is a small range ofhybrids with lions mating with tigers, jaguars or

leopards to create unique creatures. This isdiscouraged and only initiated at zoos.

Lion Species

These kings of the jungle can weigh between 250and 550 pounds, depending on sex and age and cangrow up to be 14 years old in the wild and over theage of 20 years old in captivity. They becomecapable at hunting at the age of two and are fullygrown after 5 or 6 years. Male lions aredistinguishable for their impressive manes, whichsignifies their masculinity and reflects their health.

The darker and thicker the mane, the healthier the


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lion. It allows the lions to appear stronger andfrightening to warn off enemies, particularly humans,and appeals to lionesses that are scientifically provento mate more with lions with thick and dark manes.

Lions with no manes are either genetically inbred orhave been castrated.

White Lion

The legendary white lion was once thought to be afigment of one's imagination until less than fiftyyears ago, when white lion cubs were discovered.

This is due a recessive gene and they are not albinoas they do have pigmentation in vital parts such asthey eye, paw and lip. Their condition is calledleucism meaning they only have pigmentation loss inthe skin and fur. There are less than fifty white lionsin the world.

Man Eaters

Some lions have been known to eat humans howeverthis is thought to only have been done by those whoare suffering injuries and disabilities that make itdifficult for them to hunt natural prey thus pursuinghumans as they are weaker and easier to capture.Several other theories include wanting to defenditself. Another is that their natural habitat isunavailable and not wanting to starve, they attack

humans. The thought that lions are predatorytowards humans has created ignorance andincreased the amount of hunting by encouraging theextermination of these creatures. Humans havetaken over territories once belonging to lions and byforcing them to leave their natural home has further


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demolished their habitat and lifestyle, leaving themto suffer and destruct. Lions are now listed as being avulnerable species and their population is nowirreversibly decreased.

Prides

Lions have a devised a system of living in groupscalled prides that's based around related females.

The majority of the pride, consisting of approximately15 individuals and can sometimes even reach 40individuals, is female with only a handful of male.

Male cubs eventually leave and typically becomenomads before taking over their own group as theterritorial male and father of all cubs. They only leavethe pride when challenged by other males and areforced to leave or are killed. Nomads usually travellone or in pairs, most of the time being relatedmales. If a female nomad attempts to join a pride, itis usually very difficult as the other lionesses rejecttheir intruder who is not related to them.

More information on Lions

Lioness the Prowess

Females are the prime hunters and work together to prey. They do

this by splitting into groups. One group chases the animals to a

certain area whilst another group waits to ambush the victims.

Their technique and skill is highly praised for its complexity andprecision. Each lion begins to develop their own unique role that's

specific to contributing to the success of killing the intended prey.

Their diet consists of prey as large as elephants, hyenas, hippos,

rhinos, etc to something as small as lizard and mice. A lot of the

time their food is scavenged.


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Kings of the Jungle

Males defend their territory, be it open woodland orscrub, through urinating to mark the area, roaring to

promote fear and literally chasing off any intruders.Their main competition is spotted hyenas that oftengo for the same prey as lions. These animals willfight and steal each other's food. This warfare goesbeyond food; it is also the problem of territorialboundaries being crossed. Lions can be extremelyaggressive and have been seen hunting hyenas,killing them and not eating their prey. They dominate

and promote fear in other animals, such as cheetahsand leopards, so that they do not prey the same timethat lions do. Males eat the prey first despite thefemales usually catching it. It can take up to fourhours to finish a meal and can drink for an extremelylong time straight after.

Basically the male lions defend and protect theirterritory as females hunt. This is their part to keep

their pride thriving and growing. Lions areaffectionate and playful when resting, which canusually take up to 16 - 20 hours a day, and extremelydefensive and nasty when food is on the scene. Theyshow their affection by head rubbing and licking.

These animals are mostly known for their ferociousroar but they do also make other noises includingmeowing, woofing, purring, coughing and hissing.

Lion Cubs

Cubs come in litters of between one to five babies and are either

carefully nurtured or completely neglected. If this is the case, other

lionesses will allow the cub to suckle despite it not being their


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own. Lionesses baby sit each other's cubs too, which demonstrates

the amount of care and respect they have. They give birth once

every two years with the cubs eating meat after three months and

are continued to be nursed three months after. Most lionesses have

cubs by the age of four.

Lions are quite possibly one of the most fascinating creatures in

the world. With their stereotypical ferocious outer appearance yet a

soft, community driven spirit, it is no wonder that lions are used as

metaphors to represent sporting teams, community centres and

countries alike.

Asiatic Lion

Asiatic Lion(ess), Panthera leo persica are rare. There are about

320-odd remaining in the Gir forest of Gujarat in Western India,

and bureaucratic bumbling has prevented the establishment of

alternative populations. So a single epidemic could wipe out these

fine animals. Though often spoken of as the lion of the Bible, that

was probably the extinct Barbary lion.

Differences between the African lion are the prominent bellyfringe and the larger tuft at the end of the tail. Males have a smaller

mane.

big cats: lions, king of the jungle

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