St Aidens ~ African Animals, Lion Facts

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Lion Facts

Some Information & Graphics obtained from Wikipedia

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Lions are the only big cats to live in social group. These are
known as “prides”.
The record body length of the Asiatic Lion is 2,92 metres,
including the tail. It is a little smaller than the African lion,
where the record length is 3.3 metres.
Lions once roamed in Africa, southern Europe, and parts of Asia.
Today their primary habitats are in Africa, with a few still living in
the Gir Forest of India.
A fully grown adult male lion can weigh between 330 and 550
pounds (150 and 250 kilograms). A female lioness is around 80
to 170 kilograms. A small pet cat weighs about 2 kilograms. This
means that about 80 pet cats would weigh the same as a 160
kg lion…. Uh!
Lions live in grasslands and plains. Their tawny-coloured coats
act as camouflage. They are not jungle dwellers.
When males are forced to leave the pride that they were born
into, they form small bachelor groups and roam.
Lions drink with their tongues and can usually lap a little water
at a time. It takes about ten minutes to “fill him up.”
Lions in the Kalahari Desert have been seen eating melons to
get the water that they need.
One way researchers identify individual lions is by recording the
spots on their muzzles.
Lions are carnivores—meat eaters. They hunt animals ranging in
size from small hares to large buffalo.
Lions have been known to live nearly 30 years in captivity and
have an average life span of 15 years in the wild.
Lions can run at a top speed of 36 miles (58 kilometres) an hour,
but not for long.
After they feed, lions may not hunt for a few days. But when
they eat, they usually eat all of their prey at once.
The molar, or back, teeth in humans and grazing animal are
designed for chewing. But a lion’s molar teeth are designed for
cutting. Lions also use their rough tongues to help rip the meat
before they swallow it.
Lions have a special spongy cartilage in their throats, which
helps them roar. Small cats have rigid bones in their throats,
which means that they cannot roar. But small cats are able to
purr continuously while lions are not.
When a lion lies down in the grass you can hardly see it
because of the colour of its fur matches the grass. This is known
as “camouflage”.
Another difference between small cats and big cats is how
they sit down. Small cats tend to bend their paws at the wrist
and tuck them under their body and wrap their tails around
the body. Big cats tend to rest with their paws in front of their
bodies and extend their tails straight behind them.
You can tell the difference been an Asiatic lion and an African
lion by their manes. African lions tend to have much heavier
manes, which hide their ears. Asiatic lions have much smaller
manes and their ears are usually visible.
Male lions are the only cats to have manes.
Lions are the only cats to have tufts of hair at the end of their
tails.