Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Jaguar Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
The lion is the second largest of the cat family and the largest carnivore in Africa. The males weigh an average of 180 kg, but weights of up to 270 kg have been recorded.
Females are smaller and weigh an average of 130 kg.
The average height of a Lion at the shoulder is 120cm. Their coat is a tawny colour but can vary from creamy to dark tan. The males are characterised by
a mane around their neck and shoulders but this can also vary locally in size and colour and in certain individuals it extends along the belly.
Male lions in the Tsavo area of Kenya are characterised by their lack of a mane. The
Lion is also the only cat to have a tuft at the end of it's tail.
Being a carnivore (meat eater) the Lion is equipped with sharp carnassial teeth (pre-molars and molars) for slicing and chewing meat and large canines
for biting and holding prey. They also have large and sharp retractable claws that hook and hold prey.
The Lion has excellent binocular vision and
is able to see very well in low light. This is an advantage when hunting at night.
In the wild males can live up to 16 years but 12 years is more usual and
females average 16 years. In captivity Lions have been known to live up to 25
years.
Every lion has a unique pattern of whisker spots on its face and these
remain the same throughout its life and this allows researchers to identify
individual lions by comparing photographs to the lion being observed. This
identifying trait was discovered by a researcher called Judith Rudnai, and has
now become widely used as the whisker spot patterns are as unique as
fingerprints are for humans. Other identifying characteristics such as
spots on the nose or cuts and notches on the ears are less effective as these
can change throughout the Lions life.
Lions roar as one way to mark out their territory. The roar sounds like a series of grunts and groans, and can be heard over distances of around 5 miles. This lets other lions in the area know that the territory is occupied. Lions in neighbouring territories respond by roaring to mark their territory. The roars of the dominant male also allow other members of the pride to monitor his location.
The sound console below includes a sound samples of a Lion roaring. The sound playing console may take a short time to load, particularly if you have a slow internet connection. You will need the macromedia flash plug-in to listen to the sounds.
Lions are capable of catching a wide variety of prey. They are opportunistic and will attempt to catch any animal. They have been known to kill anything from small rodents to Elephants but they do tend to prefer large to medium size ungulates. They easily chase other carnivores off their kills and so also acquire meals by scavenging. Whilst Lions are slow in comparison to a Cheetah they are still able to run at high speeds - around 35 miles per hour. Some prey animals can run faster - the Zebra can run at around 40 miles per hour for instance, so the Lions aim to get as close as possible to the prey before they are detected as this maximises their chances of the hunt being successful. If the Lion can get close and start its run before being spotted then it may be able to catch the prey before it has chance to get up to its higher top speed. The co-operative hunting methods of lions make a big difference to their success rates as a pride of lions hunting together are far more likely to make a kill than a single lion working alone. One lion may allow itself to be spotted which causes the prey to run away from it - and possibly directly towards where other lions are lying concealed waiting to ambush it.
The Lion is the only cat to form social groups called prides. The pride is made up of related females, their offspring and
unrelated males. A group of males is called a coalition and is normally made up of males that have left the pride they were born in to. The young males are
often driven away from their natal pride by the resident male/s at around 2 to 4 years of age. After the males have left or were pushed out of the pride they
lead a nomadic life until they find a pride of there own.
When a male or coalition of males takes over a pride they usually kill any
young cubs in the pride. Once the females come into season they will mate with
the new male leaders of the pride so any cubs in the pride will be fathered by
the dominant males.
Lions also hunt as a group and co-operate with each other to catch their prey. The males very rarely get involved with the hunt but once the females are
successful they will take full advantage of their size and strength to get the "Lion's share".
A pregnant lioness has a gestation period of around 110 days and shortly before she is due to give birth she will leave the pride and find a safe location in which to give birth and raise the young cubs. Lions typically give birth to between 1 and 6 young with 2-3 being usual. The cubs are altricial - born blind and helpless. The female remains away from the pride keeping the cubs hidden for safety until they are 4-8 weeks old and until the larger cubs in the pride have been weaned so are eating meat and wont be in competition against her younger and smaller cubs for the limited supply of milk available.
When the mother moves the cubs from one hiding place to another she picks one up by biting gently at the scruff of its neck and then carries it to the new location before depositing it and returning for the rest of the cubs which she also carries one at a time. Lion cubs when they are young are at risk from Hyena, Leopard, Jackals, Pythons and martial eagles so when the mother is absent the cubs remain hidden for safety. The cubs are also at risk when they are first introduced to the rest of the pride and the mother makes clear to other pride members - the males in particular that she will defend the cubs if they show signs of aggression - an understandable precaution given the fact that the males may have killed some of the lionesses earlier cubs when they took over the pride.
Whereas Leopard cubs usually suckle from the same teat every time they feed, Lion cubs use any vacant teat and will happily feed from other females in the pride (if the female lets them) as well as their mother.
Lion spoor - front and back paws.
Photo © Tanya Trevor Saunders
Lions were once found throughout sub-Sahara Africa and from North Africa through to Southwest Asia. Now Lions are found mainly in protected areas in southern, central and east Africa with small populations in west Africa. Lions are now extinct in north Africa. The last population of Asiatic Lions in the wild is isolated in the Gir National Park in Northwest India. There are thought to be approximately 30,000 lions left in the whole of Africa.
A Lion's age can be estimated by examining its teeth. Lions have 30 teeth, including four large pointed teeth (the canines) which are used to hold and kill its prey. While lions are able to bite through flesh and reasonably large bones, they have no teeth suitable for chewing, so the lion will swallow its food in chunks.
The following photos illustrate how a lions teeth change through its life.
The top left photo shows a young lion with his milk teeth. The top right photo shows a lion aged around one year old with his adult teeth in place, but not yet fully developed. The bottom left photo is of a lion in his prime with his large adult teeth in good condition. The bottom right photo is of a lion that is past its prime, and the teeth are clearly worn down.
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The lion population in Namibia is restricted to the north of the country. The majority (250 - 750) live in Etosha National Park. Smaller populations do exist in the Caprivi and Bushmanland in the Northeast and in the north west in the Kunene region. For more information on Namibia's Desert Lions, visit our Desert Lion Project page.
Members of the Predator Conservation Trust were involved with a Cheetah and Lion reintroduction project at the Kalahari Game lodge in south east Namibia. Visit the Lion and Cheetah introduction project page for more details.
The African Lion is listed on appendix II in CITES and is protected in Namibia. Trophy hunting is permitted, but this is normally restricted to problem animals when they come in to conflict with people.
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© Predator Conservation Trust.
