Lion

Panthera leo leoLions are the second-largest living cats after tigers.

It’s often difficult to tell males from females in bigger cats, but this isn’t the case with the lion. Male and female lions are quite distinct, thanks to the bushy mane encircling the male lion’s head.

Like human hair, this thick mane thins with age and failing health. The thicker and darker the mane, the healthier a cat is likely to be.

There are two subspecies of lions today:

Panthera leo leo consisting of Asiatic, Central African, and Barbary lions.

Panthera leo melanochaita consisting of South African lions (including Cape and East lions).

male lion lying in sun

Latin name: Panthera Leo

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Group name: Pride

Size: 1.4 m to 2.5 m

Weight: 125 kg to 270 kg

Panther lion

Skip to: Characteristics, Range & habitat, Diet, Behaviour, Fun facts, Video

Lion characteristics

The so-called ‘king of the jungle’ is a muscular cat that is bigger than the

>cheetah and the leopard.

The male’s head looks significantly bigger than it actually is, thanks to its mane. The mane also helps males to intimidate other animals and impress females.

An adult male averages 1.8 to 2.1 meters long and weighs up to 230 kgs while the female measure 1.2 meters and can weigh as much as 180 kgs.

Lions have short coats, ranging from orange-brown, buff-yellow to dark brown. They also have about a meter long tail with a tuft at the tip that’s darker than the rest of the coat.

Their tan color is a form of adaptation that helps them blend in with savannahs, desserts, and woodlands. Interestingly, a lion’s skin sits loosely on its body to protect its underside from the kicks of the hoofed animals it preys on. In decades past, lions ranged in most of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Today they are mainly found in Africa, South of the Sahara. Gir Forest National Park, a protected area in Western India, also has a small population of what are known as Asiatic lions.

The West African lion originates in Senegal and is a critically endangered African species. There are less than 900 of them and can be spotted in Benin, Senegal, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

The Central African Lion originates from the Belgian Congo and can be found in DRC and Uganda. It’s entirely extinct in Rwanda, as is the Cape lion.

The East African region boasts the East African Lion, although it’s now extinct in Djibouti and Eritrea.

South African lions are the largest in Africa and are found in Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia Zambia, and Botswana.

Lions are nocturnal animals and live in a variety of habitats. However, they prefer the savannah, open woodland, dense scrub, and grasslands.

Unfortunately, the lion population has decreased by 43% in the last 21 years, to the current estimated population of only about 23,000 mammals today.