African Lion

The African lion is an iconic and incredible animal that I am going to teach you about let's dive in. The Female African lion is 63 to 72 inches long, while the male African lion is 72 to 82 inches long. Females weigh 261 to 316 pounds and males on the other hand are larger exceeding in weight between 411 and 496 pounds. African lions stand between 3.5 to 4 feet tall at the shoulder. African lions are scattered in fragmented populations across sub Saharan Africa. Lions spend for about 20 hours of the day resting and sleeping. Lions are social felines they live in groups called prides. Prides consist of about 15 members, but prides with up to 30 members have been observed. Lions are carnivores and they will eat many meats such as Blue wildebeest, plains Zebra, the common eland, African buffalo, Gemsbok, Giraffe, Warthogs, Elephants, Rhinoceroses, Hippopotamuses, Dik diks, Hyraxes, Hares, and monkeys. Lions compete for food with hyenas and jackals. Lionesses reproduce at the age 4 and have litters between 1 to 4 individuals. The Maximum speed a lion can run is 50 miles per hour in short bursts. They also have a bite force between 950 to 1000 PSI. Most lion hunts happen at night. Females do much of the hunting and even though they do all the hard work the males eat first and the females get the scraps. Due to their night hunting they have an adaptation and that adaptation is their excellent night vision. Lions live 10 to 14 years in the wild, but some Individuals live longer in captivity. In the wild individuals have lived up to 20 years. Lions also have rough tongues that removes meat from the bones of prey. Lions can leap over 10 meters in a single bound. The common phrase king of the jungle is actually not true because African lions do not live in the jungle (except a few subspecies), but mostly they live in Sub Saharan Africa. Lions also affect migration patterns of some prey species. Lions Can eat up to 30 pounds of meat per serving. I hope you enjoyed learning about the African Lion.