Details
Panthera leo
A large big cat that lives in family groups called prides, known for the male's mane and the females' cooperative hunting.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
Ranges widely across the savannas, open woodlands, and grasslands of sub-Saharan Africa, with a single relict Asiatic population in the Gir Forest of western India.
Body length 140–250 cm and weight 120–250 kg. The coat is short and tawny; adult males grow a prominent mane over the neck and chest, and the tail ends in a black tuft.
Unusually social for a cat, it forms prides of related females, a few males, and their cubs. Lions rest through the day and are most active from dusk into the night.
A carnivore that preys mainly on large hoofed animals such as zebra, wildebeest, and buffalo. Females hunt cooperatively to bring down prey while males defend the territory.
Breeding is largely non-seasonal; after a gestation of about 3.5 months the female bears one to four cubs, which are raised communally within the pride.
Once spread across Africa and southwest Asia, its range has contracted sharply through habitat loss and conflict, and the IUCN lists it as Vulnerable (VU).
