Lion Facts
Learn more about these fierce and powerful cats with these Lion Facts.
- African lions are the most social of big cats and only ones live together in groups or “prides.” Lions form prides that consist of groups of adult females, smaller numbers of males, sub-adults, and cubs.
- Lions frequently hunt cooperatively, and tackle a wide range of prey, from rodents to large herbivores.
- Male lions defend the pride’s territory while females do most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.
- These majestic cats are threatened by habitat loss, human to animal conflict, as well as prey depletion. The lion is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN currently lists that there are between 23,000-39,000 mature individuals left.
- Lions once roamed from Europe to the southern tip of Africa, and from West Africa all the way to India. Today, that distribution has been dramatically reduced to just 8% of their historic range. Populations are now restricted to pockets of sub-Saharan Africa (and a relict small population in northern India). The last remaining Asiatic lions are found in Sasan-Gir National Park in India, which was primarily created to protect the species. According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, there are approximately 350 Asiatic lions in the park.
- A lion’s roar can be heard from as far as 5 miles away.
- A lion can run for short bursts at 50 mph and leap as far as 36 feet.
- Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the “king of the jungle,” lions actually only live in grasslands and plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.
- A good gauge of a male lion’s age is the darkness of his mane. The darker the mane, the older the lion.
- A lion’s heels don’t touch the ground when it walks.
- Lions enjoy relaxing and lazing around. They spend up to 21 hours each day resting and sleeping. They have few sweat glands, so they wisely tend to conserve their energy by resting during the day and become more active at night when it is cooler.
- Lions have terrific night vision. They are 6 times more sensitive to light than humans. This gives them a distinct advantage over some prey species when hunting at night.
- Lionesses are caring mothers who will even take care of a neglected cub, allowing them to suckle and giving them a chance to survive. Two or more lionesses in a group tend to give birth around the same time, and the cubs are raised together. Cubs can be extremely playful.
- Lions communicate through a range of behaviors and their expressive movements are very highly developed. They will perform peaceful tactile actions such as licking each other and rubbing heads. Head rubbing, or nuzzling, is a common greeting behavior for lions. Their vocalizations also vary in intensity and pitch.
Facts courtesy of World Wild Life & Lion Recovery Fund
