Lion ( Panthera Leo )
Lion - Lion information - Lion facts, pictures, photos
The lion is called the king of all animals. It also used to be called as the king of the desert however lions never lived and do not live in any desert. Their colour may vary from yellowish to brownish and males can be from blond to black depending on the region the lion lives in. The lion males weigh up to 420 pounds and are about 50 inches tall. On the other hand the average females weigh approximately 300 pounds and are 42 inches tall. They have got muscular body covered with a beautiful fur, strong legs with sharp retractable claws and a long tail.
Panthera leo lives in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia. There it feeds on a huge variety of animals. When preying it can reach the speed of 60 km per hour and leap even 12 metres. No animal is safe when the lion is preying even not the lions themselves. It eats games, rodents, turtles, lizards, fishes, birds, giraffes, cheetah, jaguars, leopards etc. He tends to eat its prey at once, but occasionally the lion has to hide it because of hyenas. Hyenas are the only animals which kill lions for food. But sometimes hyenas themselves end up as a lion’s prey.
The lion lives in small unites (families) made of 20 to 30 members. In each unit there is one or are few mature males with couple of females with small cubs. Even when preying these members cooperate and then eat the prey together. At the age of 5 the lions breed and the gestation time lasts about 15 weeks. After giving birth,the small cubs have closed eyes and weigh approximately 4 pounds. When having a rest lions usually lie in the grass close to the water source and only occasionally rest in the trees. Unfortunately the lion population is endangered mainly because of the poachers and the trophy hunters.
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