LION

Facts

The Lion is a muscular, broad-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck, and round ears; males have broader heads. The fur varies in colour from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red, and dark brown. The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. A new-born Lion has dark spots, which fade as the cub reaches adulthood, although faint spots may still be seen on the legs and underparts. The tail of all Lion ends in a dark, hairy tuft that, in some Lion, conceals an approximately 5 mm (0.20 in)-long, hard “spine” or “spur” that is formed from the final, fused sections of tail bone. The functions of the spur are unknown. The tuft is absent at birth and develops at around 5+1⁄2 months of age. It is readily identifiable at the age of seven months.

Its skull is very similar to that of the Tiger, although the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened and has a slightly shorter postorbital region and broader nasal openings than those of the Tiger. Due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.

The skeletal muscles of the Lion make up 58.8% of its body weight and represent the highest percentage of muscles among mammals. The Lion has a high concentrations of glycolytic fast-twitch muscle fibres.

The male Lion averaging body detail is Head-and-body length: 184–208 cm (72–82 in), Tail length: 82.5–93.5 cm (32.5–36.8 in) and Weight in Southern Africa: 186.55–225 kg (411.3–496.0 lb. The female Lion body detail is Head-and-body length: 160–184 cm (63–72 in), Tail length: 72–89.5 cm (28.3–35.2 in) and weight in Southern Africa: 118.37–143.52 kg (261.0–316.4 lb).

The mane grows downwards and backwards, covering most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust, and black hairs. It starts growing when Lion enter adolescence, when testosterone levels increase, and reach their full size at around four years old.

Lion spend much of their time resting; they are inactive for about twenty hours per day. Although Lion can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socialising, grooming, and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity continue until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and fifty minutes eating.

The Lion is the most social of all wild felid species, living in groups of related individuals with their offspring. Such a group is called a “pride”. Groups of male Lion are called “coalitions”. Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females. The majority of females remain in their birth prides while all males and some females will disperse. The average pride consists of around 15 Lion, including several adult females and up to four males and their cubs of both sexes. Large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed.

The Lion is a generalist hypercarnivore and is considered to be both an apex and keystone predator due to its wide prey spectrum. Its prey consists mainly of ungulates, particularly Blue Wildebeest, Plains Zebra, African Buffalo, common Warthog, Gemsbuck and Giraffe. They usually avoid fully grown adult Elephant, Rhinoceros and Hippopotamus and small prey like Dik-Dik, Hyrax, Hare and Monkey. Unusual prey include Porcupine and small reptiles. Lion kill other predators but seldom consume them.

Young Lion first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two. Single Lion are capable of bringing down Zebra and Wildebeest, while larger prey like Buffalo and Giraffe are riskier. In typical hunts, each Lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the “wing”, then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other Lioness. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting. Some evidence suggests, however, that males are just as successful as females; they are typically solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland. They may join in the hunting of large, slower-moving prey like Buffalo; and even hunt them on their own. Moderately-sized hunting groups generally have higher success rates than lone females and larger groups.

Lion typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover. They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled Lion, which can live on leftovers. Large kills are shared more widely among pride members. An adult Lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day while males require about 7 kg (15 lb). Lion gorge themselves and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one session. If it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard. Lion defend their kills from scavengers such as Vulture and Hyena.

Most Lioness reproduce by the time they are four years of age. Lion do not mate at a specific time of year and the females are polyoestrous. A Lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat. Generation length of the Lion is about seven years. The average gestation period is around 110 days; the female gives birth to a litter of between one and four cubs in a secluded den, which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave, or some other sheltered area, usually away from the pride. She will often hunt alone while the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the den. Lion cubs are born blind, their eyes opening around seven days after birth. They weigh 1.2–2.1 kg (2.6–4.6 lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age. To avoid a buildup of scent attracting the attention of predators, the Lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one-by-one by the nape of the neck.

Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old. Sometimes the introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other Lioness have given birth at about the same time. When first introduced to the rest of the pride, Lion cubs lack confidence when confronted with adults other than their mother. They soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, however, playing among themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults. Lioness with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another Lioness’s cubs than Lioness without cubs. Male tolerance of the cubs varies—one male could patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, while another may snarl and bat the cubs away.

Pride Lioness often synchronise their reproductive cycles and communal rearing and suckling of the young, which suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. The synchronisation of births is advantageous because the cubs grow to being roughly the same size and have an equal chance of survival, and suckling is not dominated by older cubs. Weaning occurs after six or seven months. Male Lion reach maturity at about three years of age and at four to five years are capable of challenging and displacing adult males associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken at between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest.

When one or more new males oust the previous males associated with a pride, the victors often kill any existing young cubs, perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. Females often fiercely defend their cubs from a usurping male but are rarely successful unless a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against the male. Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity at around two or three years of age, while some females may leave when they reach the age of two. When a new male Lion takes over a pride, adolescents both male and female may be evicted.

When resting, Lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal’s expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking, which have been compared with the role of allogrooming among primates. Head rubbing, nuzzling the forehead, face and neck against another Lion appears to be a form of greeting and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females. Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because Lion cannot lick these areas themselves.

Lion have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures. A common facial expression is the “grimace face” or flehmen response, which a Lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose, closed eyes and relaxed ears. Lion also use chemical and visual marking; males spray urine and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.

The Lion repertoire of vocalisations is large; variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most Lion vocalisations are variations of growling, snarling, meowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating and humming. Roaring is used to advertise its presence. Lion most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5 mi). They tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into grunts.