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LIONS (Panthera
leo) Where
are lions found? In prehistoric times, cave lions (Panthera Splaea), one-third
larger than today’s African lions, existed. With the expansion of forests,
they became extinct in Europe about 2,000 years ago. A century ago, lions could be found everywhere in Africa. Today,
approximately 200,000 lions live in 13,000 family groups in certain areas of
Africa, namely, the game reserves and safari parks. One of the biggest and most
well known is the Serengeti in Tanzania where one can find 1 lion in every 10
sq. km. About 300 Asian lions still
survive in Asia, in the Gir Reserve, over an area of 1,400 sq. km.
The Asian lions have thicker fur, but shorter manes, compared with the
African lions. They are surviving so well that the reserve is becoming too small
for them. General
facts Because of its strength and predatory habits, nicknamed “King of the
Jungle” (not accurate because lions are not found in jungles) or “King of
the Beasts”. In Swahili - Simba. The myth of the supernatural powers ot the lion survives today: by
consuming or wearing parts of a lion it is believed that one can revive lost
powers, cure illness and win immunity from death. The lion is a predator.
It belongs to the feline family - one of
the ‘big cats’ (which include the tiger, jaguar, panther, leopard and
snow leopard). But, for all its glory, it is not
the largest of the big cats, the Siberian tiger being the largest.
It is different from the other
cats in the following ways: ·
the lion is the only truly social
cat species. Lives in a family group. ·
the only cat family where there is a visible difference between male and
female. Male lions have huge dark manes. ·
only cat species to have a knob-like tuft of dark hair at the tip of its
tail. In the wild, the lion presides over African
grasslands or savannahs, where they are barely visible in the high, dry
grass. Lions do not like dense forests because they do not climb
trees. Because of its strength, the lion has no natural enemies, apart from men. In surveys of animal popularity, the lion is
the only animal in the world that appears among both the top ten loves and the
top ten hates. It is loved because it is perceived as proud, dignified, handsome
and powerful - the ‘lord of the jungle’ - and is hated because it is a
killer of appealing animals such as antelope and zebra. Vital statistics Male:
Head-body
length: 2.6-3.3m (8.5-10.8ft)
Tail length: 60-100cm (2-3.3ft)
Shoulder height: 1.2m (4ft)
Weight: 150-240kg (330-530lb) Female:
Head-body
length: 2.4-2.7m (8-9ft)
Tail length: 60-100cm
(2-3.3ft)
Shoulder height: 1.1m
(3.6ft)
Weight: 122-182 kg
(270-300lb)
FEATURES
& CHARACTERISTICS Like other members of the cat family, the lion
has a lithe, compact, muscular and deep-chested body. Its head is rounded and
shortened and bears prominent whiskers. The skull is highly adapted to killing
and eating prey, and the jaws are short and powerful. Mane The young male reaches 2 years before its mane
starts to grow. It develops quickly from a small tawny ruff into a massive
thickened mass of hair, often extending from the neck area to the underside of
the abdomen. These changes indicate the onset of sexual maturity. The lion’s
mane has several purposes:- ·
increases its apparent size and makes it more impressive looking. ·
serves as a visual indication of gender from long distances. ·
adds to his aura during his strutting displays. ·
protect it against claws and teeth of opponents when fighting. Colour
of lion’s fur, like the dry dusty ground and grasses dyed gold by the sun,
also acts as a good camouflage. This
is important because most of the animals they hunt can run faster than the lion. Big
Mouth When opened wide, the lion’s mouth is a ferocious sight. Inside, the lion’s canine teeth
are up to 6 cm long - to grab and
hold on to prey. The cutting or incisor teeth
have sharp edges - used like scissors
to slice off meat and crush bones. Its tongue is rough and
covered with “papillae” that bend towards the back. In this way, the lion
can hold firmly to the flesh of its prey and scrape the bones completely clean.
It also helps to remove insects and parasites from its fur. Legs,
Paws & Claws Lions have short but extremely
muscular legs, built to carry its weight of 200 kilos. Their wide, rounded
paws have thick pads and sharp
sickle-shaped claws, the lions’ most formidable weapon. The claws can be retracted.
When not needed, they are stored in folds of the skin when it walks. In this
way, they are not worn out unnecessarily. Bright
Eyes The lion’s senses are in tune with its lifestyle, which is that of a
nocturnal hunter. Vision and hearing both play an important part in hunting at
night. Cat’s eyes are 6 times more
sensitive than ours. Behind the retina is a sensitive layer called
“tapetum Incidum” - means “light
carpet”. This acts as a mirror which reflects light back into the eye.
Even a small amount of light is enough to send a picture back to the brain. In the savannah, where it is seldom totally dark because of the
moonlight, this feature gives the lions a distinct advantage over their prey and
enables the lion to hunt effectively in the night. Ears
& Nose Lions have very well developed
hearing. A lion can prick its years to determine the direction of sounds.
This is important when stalking prey since it lies close to the ground and
cannot see its prey. The lion relies on hearing to follow movement of prey. The lion’s sense of smell has
no role in the hunt, but with its sense of taste, helps the lion to taste its
food. Its long whiskers act as feelers. Lion-Speak Lions have their own language in which they talk to each other. A lion’s roar can be heard
over a distance of 8-9 km. It’s roar means several things. To the pride, it says “here
I am” - it helps keep the pride together. To other prides, it means “this
is my territory” - it lays claim to territory and keeps away intruders. A lion will growl angrily if irritated, and softly to stay in contact
with one another. Rubbing
of heads Besides greeting each other,
lions are transferring scent onto
each (through a gland near the eye) to enable them to recognise each other. Defence
posturing Lions have a clever way of limiting serious injury during potentially
violent confrontations. The weaker members of the pride, especially cubs, adopt
a fawning or cringing position and by
crouching or lying submissively on its back, deliberately exposes itself in
such a manner as to make killing easy for the superior lion. When the aggressor
sees this gesture of appeasement, it realises it is no longer threatened, and it
breaks off the fight. However, this does not happen when two mature adult males fight.
These confrontations can be extremely violent or fatal encounters, where
submissive posturing can result in death of severe injury to the weaker lion. Age In the wild, lions have a life-span of 16-20 years (average of 15 yrs).
In captivity, lions live longer, up to 30 years. Females
generally live longer than males. This is explained by the lions’ social lifestyle.
As soon as male lions weaken, they are chased away from the pride by the
younger, stronger males, or are ousted by stronger and younger nomadic males.
These lions become drifters and have to catch their own food. The problem is a
lone hunter is less successful. In addition, drifters are constantly besieged by
lions defending their territory. All this takes a severe toll on them. A lion
lives out its final years a solitary individual, depending on smaller game, no
more the majestic creature it once was. In contrast, lionesses have an easier time. They remain in their pride
until death. When old and no longer able to hunt, they are allowed to share in
the catch of younger lionesses. A
PRIDE OF LIONS A pride of lions is usually made up of 1-4 adult males, 4-12 adult females and their young. The females are
all related. They are born, grow up and die in the pride. Males are also usually
related to each other but not to the females. Males will grow up as brothers or
cousins but will be chased out at the age of 3 or 4 years. They will drift
around until they are old and strong enough to usurp the throne from leaders of
another pride. Thus, the lionesses form
the core of the pride. The dominant males will change from time to time, as
and when nomadic males succeed in fighting to take over the pride. Life in the pride is, for the most part, a tactile experience with a
great deal of social grooming and rubbing of heads and bodies. Except for
fighting over the right to feed at a kill, pride members get along
harmoniously, displaying warm signs of affection by rubbing heads and cheeks
when they greet one another and licking one another’s faces after feeding. A strong
family bond exists between females and males. Females collectively take care
of the young, while males collectively fight off intruders. Territory The territory of a single pride covers between 20 and 400 sq. km.,
depending on the abundance of prey. The less prey there is, the wider the
territory roamed. The important task of the males
here is to patrol borders of the pride’s territory. They will constantly
criss-cross their domain and advertise their presence in their defended
territory in 3 ways:- ·
loud roaring ·
marking by leaving scent signals - either by depositing their droppings
or by spraying urine on landmarks ·
patrolling Hunting
Lions are carnivores. They hunt animals between 50 and 500 kilos. They
prefer herd animals such as wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and antelope. In a pride, hunting is done
mainly by the lionesses. Being lighter and able to run much faster without
the inconvenience of the mane, the females are better built for this task. The
manes of adult males also probably makes them too conspicuous. The lionesses usually hunt as a team.
But there seems to be some correlation between prey availability and/or size of
prey, and the number of lionesses willing to participate in any hunting effort.
If the prey is small and a single lion is capable of making a kill without help
of others, pride members are often content to wait and perhaps gain a free meal.
If the prey is large enough to feed the entire pride, and a joint hunt is more
likely to succeed, co-operative hunting appears to benefit all participants. Although lions hunt during all times of the day, the favourite
time being dawn and dusk when it is cooler, nocturnal hunts are generally more
successful. On the open plains, where vegetation is sparse, hunting takes place
primarily at night, but where vegetation is thick, it may also occur during the
day. Setting out on a hunt, the lionesses will approach their quarry
cautiously and calmly, getting as close as they can, about 20 meters. As they
crawl stealthily through the long grass, they fan out to gradually encircle the
herd. When they eventually break cover and charge, they may briefly run as fast
as 40 mph. Any lioness that manages to catch up with a fleeing animal, uses its
body weight, large paws and claws to knock all but the largest prey down, and
secure it to the ground. It then kills the struggling animal in one of three
ways: a nape or neck bite for small animals that severs the spinal chord; a
throat bite for larger prey that kills by strangulation; and a muzzle bite that
also suffocates the quarry. Success is higher when hunting in a team. But lions are
not particularly efficient hunters, successfully capturing medium-sized
prey, such as zebras, wildebeest and antelope in only 20 to 30% of their
attempts (or 1 in 4 times). Because they are not adapted for leaping or running
at high speeds and for long distance, the lion will generally give up the chase
if not successful within a few hundred meters. Two reasons have been put forth
for the lion’s failure in hunting. First, lions often approach prey from an
upwind location, thereby alerting the prey. Second, the lion’s charge is
generally launched directly at its quarry and it rarely changes the path of its
attack. So, generally speaking, if a lion misses the first time, it does not
pursue further but quits and looks for new quarry. Lions are called
“opportunistic” hunters, eating whatever they can catch for themselves
or steal from other predators. Scavenging
is an important source of food, with food stolen from other predators and
carrion often making up 10-15% of their total food intake. Field observations
reveal that lions spend a great deal of time looking for circling vultures and
listening for calls of hyenas to locate downed prey. Lions have more
opportunities to scavenge when prey and other predators are plentiful. Lions share their territory with other predators such as cheetahs,
panthers, wild dogs, spotted hyenas. Although they may hunt for the same prey
species as lions, specifically animals weighing less than 100 kg, only the lion
regularly kills prey larger than about 250 kg. Lions are also more likely to
kill healthy adult prey than are the others. Hyenas are potentially the
strongest competitors, being large-bodied nocturnal hunters. But by running down
their prey, rather than stalking it as cats do, hyenas tend to kill calves and
old and sick animals. Lions may actually benefit from the presence of hyenas,
for in a study in the Ngorongoro Crater region of the Serengeti, some 81% of all
carcasses fed on by lions had been killed by hyenas. Sharing
the catch Lionesses need 5 kilos of meat per day. Each has to kill 2 tonnes of
prey per year to keep alive. Together, they have to feed their cubs and males,
who do not join in the hunt, but join in the feast, eating about 7 kilos of meat
per day. Interactions and pecking
order among pride members at a kill is highly developed and lions rarely eat
in peace. Interestingly, most of the facial wounds, and injuries represented by
scars on the lions’ heads, are received during squabbles at kills. The mature
males, if present, always eat first and enjoy the best parts (now you know what
is meant by ‘the lion’s share’). When satisfied, they retire to rest and
relax, and the females come forward, constantly bickering and fighting among
themselves. Juveniles and cubs are the last to feed and are often left out
altogether, especially when there is not enough food to go round. Sadly, starvation
is the main cause of death among cubs. Lions can gorge themselves with 20-30 kilos of meat at one
sitting, after which they do not have to hunt for 4-5 days again. Lazy
King? After a good meal, it’s time to
rest and laze about, preferably in the shade. The pride usually has special
resting places - in the shade of a large tree, or on a rocky outcrop. Sometimes,
they jump onto and sprawl out on large low branches of a tree where it is cooler
and not bothered with flies. Lions are idle for about 20-21
hours a day. When in this state, they can be doing various things like
dozing, staring into the distance, licking themselves or each other, rubbing
heads, watching their cubs play…….but their senses remain alert. Man-eaters? Lions are, by nature, not
man-eaters. They are not fond of human flesh and usually avoid people.
However, they can sometimes wreak havoc, eg. when they are old or sick and
cannot hunt well, or when there are not enough animals around to hunt. COURTING,
PREGNANCY & BIRTH Males become sexually mature after 4 years, while females generally come
into estrous by the age of 2 ½ to
3 years. When a female shows through her behaviour and scent that she is ready, a
male is ready for her. There is no need to fight over her. Because they are
always members of the same family, it doesn’t matter who the father will be. Hormonal
changes are detected by the dominant male(s) through changes in the odour of the
lionesses’ urine. When smelling the urine of an estrous female, the male lion
makes a characteristic facial grimace, known as “flehmen”. The lion raises
his head, swills the females odorous urine in his mouth and inhales deeply,
drawing back his lips in a curl exposing his teeth and gums. Mating is generally
initiated by the lioness. She will stimulate the male to initiate intercourse
with a lot of body posturing - rubbing and nudging, rolling over on her back and
emitting a low guttural moaning. When she has his full attention, the lioness
assumes a crouched mating posture with the base of her tail slightly elevated.
The male mounts and copulation lasts from 5 to 20 seconds, during which time the
male bites the neck of the lioness and produces any number of facial expressions
and sounds. Following each copulation, the lioness rolls over onto her back and
lays in this inverted position for a minute or two, perhaps enhancing the
chances for conception. Mating lions do not usually show any interest in hunting
or eating, and are not generally viewed as a threat by prey. At the end of her pregnancy, the lioness is fed by others. When
ready to deliver (11-119-day gestation period), she looks for a sheltered, isolated spot, like a bush, cave or hole in the ground to
give birth to her litter of 2-4 cubs. The babies are born tiny, blind and
helpless. New-born cubs have greyish spots or stripes on their greyish-yellow or
pale brown coats, which fade away in about 3 months. Their blue eyes also turn
into the amber colour of the adult’s at between 2 and 3 months. The lioness
rarely leaves her young cubs who are hidden for the first month or so. Young
cubs Cubs are brought out of their hiding places to join the pride,
after 6-8 weeks, where they are safer under the constant guard of all the
lionesses. Females from the same pride frequently come into season and later
give birth at the same time which allows them to share nursing and other
maternal duties. Lionesses with
cubs form sub-pride groupings called creches,
to maximise the care, protection and food resources available for successfully
rearing young. Cubs suckle not only with their own mother but also with all
nursing females. Male lions are very affectionate with their own cubs, which is quite
unusual behaviour for cats. Male lions baby-sit willingly and patiently when the
lionesses are out hunting. Playtime Young lions have only one interest - play. They enjoy tail-stalking, tail-pulling, nip and tag, running,
jumping, fetching, wrestling, all innocent games which help the young lion gauge
its strength. Purpose
of play
- to exercise their muscles and sharpen
reflexes, to work out the fighting
techniques that they will need in future to defend their territories, pride
and food against rivals, and to develop the techniques that they will need for hunting. Cubs accompany their mothers on hunting expeditions when they are only
about 3-4 months, but participate in the hunt when they are 1 or 2 years. When
males grow up Male lion cubs begin to show visual signs of sexual maturity by the age
of 12 months (mane) but only begin to show true adult male behaviour about 30
months of age. When this happens, the dominant male lions of the pride slowly
recognize their behaviour and display aggressiveness towards them until one day
they drive them from the pride. The
ousted males (drifters) often form “coalitions”, typically brothers and/or
cousins reared in the same nursery groups. Infanticide
When a “coalition” successfully takes over a pride, all
the young cubs in the pride are
killed. The lions do not want to look after ‘foster cubs’ but want to
produce their own young as quickly as possible and ensure survival of their own.
When the lionesses have no more cubs to suckle, milk production stops and they
come into heat again. They then mate with the new dominant males. What
about the future? Lions have become rarer but
are not on the brink of extinction. However, this state of affairs may well
change rapidly largely because Africa no longer has sufficient supply of food to
feed these large predators. Population growth in Africa is high and large areas
of land have to be cleared for agriculture. As herds of cattle take the place of
wild grazing herds, lions have less and less prey to hunt. As agriculture
spreads, lions are quickly eliminated, either shot for their attacks on cattle
or forced out as the game is destroyed. Only if man succeeds in maintaining a
natural equilibrium in the reserves and parks will the lion be able to survive. Sources: Kingdom of the Lions: http://home.worldonline.nl/~rlion/lkwhoe.htm The Cyber Zoomobile: http://www.primenet.com/~brendel/lion.html The Encyclopaedia of Mammals: Dr David Macdonald
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