Generally a tawny yellow, lions, like other species, tend to
be lighter in color in hot, arid areas and darker in areas of dense
vegetation. Mature male lions are unique among the cat species for the thick
mane of brown or black hair that encircles the head and neck. The tails of
lions end in a horny spine covered with a tuft of hair.
Lions are found in
savannas, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands.
Females do 85 to 90 percent of the pride's hunting, while the males patrol
the territory and protect the pride, for which they take the "lion's share"
of the females' prey. When resting, lions seem to enjoy good fellowship with
lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring. But when it comes to
food, each lion looks out for itself. Squabbling and fighting are common,
with adult males usually eating first, followed by the females and then the
cubs.
Lions are the laziest of the big cats. They usually spend 16 to 20 hours a
day sleeping and resting, devoting the remaining hours to hunting, courting
or protecting their territory. They keep in contact with one another by
roaring loud enough to be heard up to five miles away. The pride usually
remains intact until the males are challenged and successfully driven away
or killed by other males, who then take over. Not all lions live in prides.
At maturity, young males leave the units of their birth and spend several
years as nomads before they become strong enough to take over a pride of
their own. Some never stop wandering and continue to follow migrating herds;
but the nomadic life is much more difficult, with little time for resting or
reproducing.
Within the pride, the territorial males are the fathers of all the cubs.
When a lioness is in heat, a male will join her, staying with her
constantly. The pair usually mates for less than a minute, but it does so
about every 15 to 30 minutes over a period of four to five days.
Lions may hunt at any hour, but they typically go after large prey at night.
They hunt together to increase their success rate, since prey can be
difficult to catch and can outrun a single lion. The lions fan out along a
broad front or semicircle to creep up on prey. Once with within striking
distance, they bound in among the startled animals, knock one down and kill
it with a bite to the neck or throat. Hunts are successful about half the
time.
Cooperative hunting
enables lions to take prey as large as wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, young
elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes, any of which can provide several
meals for the pride. Mice, lizards, tortoises, warthogs, antelopes and even
crocodiles also form part of a lion's diet. Because they often take over
kills made by hyenas, cheetahs and leopards, scavenged food provides more
than 50 percent of their diets in areas like the Serengeti plains.
Litters consist of
two or three cubs that weigh about 3 pounds each. Some mothers carefully
nurture the young; others may neglect or abandon them, especially when food
is scarce. Usually two or more females in a pride give birth about the same
time, and the cubs are raised together. A lioness will permit cubs other
than her own to suckle, sometimes enabling a neglected infant to survive.
Capable hunters by 2 years of age, lions become fully grown between 5 and 6
years and normally live about 13 years.
Lions have long been killed
in rituals of bravery, as hunting trophies and for their medicinal and
magical powers. Although lions are now protected in many parts of Africa,
they were once considered to be stock-raiding vermin and were killed on
sight. In some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem.
- Most lions drink water daily if available, but can go four or five
days without it. Lions in arid areas seem to obtain needed moisture from
the stomach contents of their prey.
- When males take over a pride, they usually kill the cubs. The females
come into estrus and the new males sire other cubs.
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