Here is some general info about African lions. Lions are one of
the most fascinating exotic cat of all big cats.
African lions live mostly on the continent of Africa. Lions are
part of the cat family. However, they are MUCH MUCH larger than
the domestic cats we keep in our homes as pets. An adult male lion can be
NINE feet from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. Male
lions are about 4 feet tall and usually weigh between 350 and 550
pounds. WOW that is HUGE! The male lion's main job is to
defend the pride's territory.
Did you know lions live together in large family
groups called a pride. A pride is made of several
related females and their cubs and a few young males and one older
dominant male. The females do most of the hunting, often hunting
in groups. A female lion is called a lioness. All the
lionesses in a pride help take care of each other's cubs too.
When lionesses hunt in groups they often work together as
a team.
Each pride has their own territory, that means it is
their own space, like a great big yard of their very own. That
territory is about a 15 mile square. If there is not much food in
their territory a lion pride may travel 100 miles to find food.
Catching food is hard because most animals can run
faster than lions can. A lion can run about 35 miles per
hour. That is fast to run, but most animals that the lion hunts
can run faster than that. Lions do most of their hunting at night
because they rest and sleep about 20 hours a day.
Lions usually eat every 3-4 days. Sometimes though
when food is scarce, they may have to go weeks without food! A
male lion can eat 75 pounds of meat in one meal. I think that
would be a grocery cart full of meat.
People buy cute cuddly lion cubs and try to make pets
out of them without considering that cute cuddly cub will grow up to
be a HUGE dangerous carnivore. They are not prepared to buy 75 pounds
of meat each week to properly feed the animal. That is why many of the
lion bought in the private pet trade do not live to grow up and if
they do they all kinds of health problems because of improper
nutrition while growing up. This unhealthy animal are then sold back
to breeders, sold to canned hunts or get dumped at a wildlife
sanctuary that is over full. The sanctuary then must depend on public
donations and support to provide life long feeding, housing and
medical care for the animal, PLEASE tell anyone thinking of buying a
cute cuddly lion cub for a pet that it is a really stupid thing to do.
A female lion is called a lioness. There are
usually several lionesses in a pride. Often they are sisters,
mothers, daughters and cousins to each other. The lionesses in a
pride often have their cubs around the same time. They help each
other take care of the cubs. They even feed and 'baby sit' each others
cubs. Some of the lionesses go out hunting and others stay
'home' taking care of the babies.
A baby lion is called a cub. A cub weighs about 5
pounds and has spots when they are born. These spots go away as
the cub gets older. When the cubs are born their eyes are closed
and open when they are about 3 weeks old. At about 3 months old
the cubs begin to follow their mother when she hunts. Cubs usually
stay with their mother for about 2 years. During that time
they learn how to live in the pride and learn to hunt. They also learn
all the other skills they need to survive as a wild lion.
Lionesses take very good care of their cubs. They
protect them and teach them to hunt. They give them baths by
licking them a lot.
Lion cubs begin getting their teeth when they about 1
week old, while their eyes are still closed. They usually stay
well hidden and quiet till they are 3 to 6 weeks old.
Oh yeah-- The lionesses do most of the hunting but the
male eats first. <DUH>
Lions have very strong shoulders. Their feet are
called paws. Each paw has big sharp claws. Strong shoulders
are a must, because they have to bring their prey down usually in a
full run.
African lions have 30 teeth. Four of their teeth
are very large and pointed. Those four teeth are called
canines. There are four cheek teeth called carnassial teeth.
None of their teeth are good for chewing so they have to swallow their
food in chunks.
