Lion — a huge African cat, strong and graceful. In the wild, lions live only in the African savannas, but their population is declining year by year due to their widespread extermination by poachers and local residents who protect their livestock from attack. Despite the measures taken to protect lions, these predators are becoming less and less every year.
Interesting facts about lions
- The size of a lion’s heart in relation to body size — the smallest among all members of the cat family.
- Lion — the second largest big cat, the palm in this nomination belongs to the tiger (interesting facts about tigers).
- One and a half thousand years ago, lions were also found in Europe, but they were mercilessly exterminated.
- In nature, lions are very lazy. A well-fed lion will move only in case of danger, or to move into the shade.
- Lionesses hunt more often than lions, supplying the bulk of the prey to their pride. But male lions always take part in the hunt for large prey like buffalo, as lionesses can simply not cope with such an animal (interesting facts about buffalos).
- During the mating season, lions mate up to a hundred times a day. The mating season lasts about a week.
- A male mane, as well as the ability to roar intimidatingly, appears at about the age of two years.
- Unlike tigers, lions often hunt at night.
- Lions never chew meat, swallowing it in large chunks. They use their teeth only to tear their prey apart.
- Newborn lion cubs weigh about one and a half kilograms.
- In hot periods, lions sleep up to twenty hours a day.
- Lions — the only felines that prefer not to live alone.
- The lion pride changes location several times a month so that the accumulating smell cannot attract potential enemies.
- The attack of the lion pride succeeds in one case out of three.
- When they reach the age of two or three years, young males are expelled from the pride.
- For one meal, an adult a lion can eat up to 30 kilograms of meat.
- In nature, lions live an average of fifteen years. Captive — about twice as long.
- Lions can rarely interbreed with tigers, but the resulting hybrid is likely to be sterile and unable to produce offspring of their own.
- Wool in an adult’s mane a lion can reach a length of forty centimeters.
- Lions with a dark mane tolerate heat worse than their lighter-maned counterparts.
- Lionesses weigh about half as much as lions. The weight of an adult lion often reaches 250 kilograms.
- The extinct cave lion that lived on the territory of modern Siberia was the largest representative of the cat family that ever walked on our planet.
- The lion pride attacks on any production that he considers promising. Sometimes lions even attack elephants.
- About twenty percent of lion cubs survive to adulthood.
- In fights for territory, male lions often die. Females never take part in these fights.
- The claw length of an adult lion can reach 7 centimeters.