Statistics
Weight male: 150 - 250 kg
Weight female: 120 - 185 kg
Hight male: 120 cm
Hight female: 110 cm
Speed: maximum of 58 km/hour
Life expectancy: ca. 15 years
Gestation: 3,5 months
Number of young: 2 - 4 (up to 6)
Identification
The lion is a heavy build animal with a wide, massive head and big round ears and brown eyes with round pupils. Most of his skin is light brown in colour. But the end of the tail, the back of the ears and the lips are black. Lions have a smooth hairy tail which ends in a black tail-tuft. The tuft covers a 6-12 mm long claw-like horny spine, which they use to scare away flies and for communication.
Unmistakable are the manes which cover only the head of the male lion. The manes begin to grow when the male lion is two years old and they are fully developed by the time they are five or six. The manes differ in length and colour, but the colour always turns darker when the lion gets older.
Cubs have a greyish spotted skin which turns into the brown adult colour in about 3 months.
Habitat
Lions live in savanne, open plains, lightly wooded country or rocky outcrops. They avoid the densely forested areas.
Food
Lions eat a great variety of herbivores like giraffes, warthogs, wildebeest, zebras, buffaloes, topi, impala's and gazelles. The prey selection varies according to season and habitat. Their bodyshape and habitat are perfectly adapted to the hunt on big herbivores. Lions are heavily build with big muscles. Most of the time they live on open plains so they do not have to bother about moving silent through the bushes.
A troop of lions has a hunting area which they defend against other lions. The hunting area is large enough to feed the whole troop. Depending on the prey the area varies between 20 - 400 km². One lion can easily kill a prey which is twice as heavy as itself. Wildebeest and zebras are very popular as a prey. When the lions hunt in a group they even can kill a prey which is 4 times as heavy as themselves!
Most of the time the lionesses are taking care of the food and generally they are hunting together. A male lion is heavier build so he can get the bigger prey, but on the other hand he is not as fast as the lioness. Also his manes can give him away, which makes him not so suitable for the hunt.
Before a group of lionesses is going to hunt, they seek their prey so all the lionesses know which herbivore will be their prey. A few lionesses sneak to the prey from one site, while the other lionesses come from the other site. Like this the prey is surrounded and secured from the herd. When the first lioness is close to the prey she will clamp it with her jaws and claws and pulls the animal to the ground. When the prey is small, like a gazelle, they kill it with a bite in the neck. When they have a bigger prey, they pull the animal to the ground firmly and strangle it. It can take 15 minutes before the prey is dead. When a bigger prey is running at full speed, the lion uses one of its legs to tackle the prey. It will be too dangerous to hang on a big prey when the animal is falling on the ground.
When the prey has been killed the male lion dominates the eating ceremony. He will drive the lionesses away until he has eaten enough. He gorges himself and when he is satisfied the lionesses can start their meal. After all the lions and lionesses have eaten, the cubs are allowed to eat. When plenty of food is available, a male lion can eat up to 40 kg on an empty stomach, while lionesses can consume 27 kg. This is enough to survive for about four to five days.
When the prey is not that big, the male lion will consume the whole prey and the lionesses will have to hunt again. When there are plenty of easy to catch preys, the lions will kill more then they really need at that moment. They look after the preys they do not eat or bury it or drag it into a tree. When there is hardly any food, the cups suffer the most, even their own mother will feed herself and not her child. This makes that only the stronger cubs survive.
The lions are not always hunting in groups, but the chance of succes is bigger when they hunt together.
Activity
Lions which live in the savannas mostly hunt at dawn and dusk and at night. When the area is more overgrowth, it can be that they also hunt at daytime. During the day they rest most of the time, about 16-20 hours, usually in a shady place.
However rarely done, lions can climb into trees, by hoisting themselves with their claws. Only the younger ones climb more often.
General information
