Conservation Concepts

Order:  Carnivora

Family:  Felidae

Genus:  Panthera

Species:  Leo

Sub-species: 

General Description: 

The “king of the beasts”, the largest of the big cats in Africa.  Range in color from tawny to gray.  In past, now extinct forms, the males’ manes extended over the shoulders and hung from the belly. (Kingdon, p. 284)

Size: (Kindon, p. 284)

Head and body length:  158 – 192 cm female, 172 – 250 cm male

Tail length:  60 – 100 cm.

Shoulder height:  100 – 128 cm

Weight: 122 – 182 kg female, 150 – 260 kg male

Mane just visible in 2-year old males.  Body coloration changes to adult coloration at 3 months. (Estes, p. 369)

Habitat: 

Mostly associated with preserved savannah ecosystems.

Range/Parks:

At one time extended throughout Africa, and also through the Middle East to Arabia, Persia and India.  Now limited to national parks and reserves in Africa as well as the Gir Forest in India. (Kingdon, p.284)

Home Range:

In good habitat may be as small as 20 sq. km.  In poor habitat as large as 400 sq. km. (Estes, p. 371)

Food/Water:

Most prey are mammals weighing between 50 – 300 kg.  When these aren’t available, prey ranging from 15 – 1,000 kg may be taken, the smaller by individual lions and the larger by groups.  Most of their diet comes from about 10 species, as opposed to 20 or 30 for leopards. (Kingdon, p. 284)

Can go for long stretches without water – have been recorded eating melons and cucumbers for moisture in the dry Kalahari. (Walker, p. 94)

Will scavenge rather than hunt when possible, although a single lion can bring down prey twice its size, esp. zebra and wildebeest.  Males tackle larger prey more readily than females. (Estes, p. 370)

Breeding: 

Females often come into estrus simultaneously which means there will be many cubs of the same age in a pride.  Females will suckle each others’ cubs, although weak cubs will be left on their own. (Kingdon, p. 286)

Gestation about 100 days, with 2-6 young born in a thicket or amongst rocks.  Eyes open in 3-11 days, mobile at 1 month, accompany adults by 2 months, weaned by 8 months and independent by 18 months, fully mature by 5 years. (Kingdon, p. 286)

Cubs usually produced at intervals of at least 2 years, and estrus does not begin until 1 ½ years after previous birth, unless they lose a litter, in which case they will enter estrus within a couple of days or weeks.  This is important since males are rarely in charge for more than two years, they need to get an early start on reproducing. (Estes, p. 371)

Females may breed starting at 4 years. (Estes, p. 376)

Social Organization/Behavior: 

Prides typically contain five (2-20) adult females, two (1-8) adult males and their young and subadult offspring.   Often spend time alone or with one or two others, but entire pride will come together for a kill or bouts of roaring.  Reunions are marked with rubbing, leaning, purring, licking and other signs of appeasement by subordinates.  Female to female bonds are persistent and they will fend off intruding females.  Males rarely stay with a pride for more than 3-4 years.  Nomadic groups frequently challenge dominant male and are also the most frequent threats to livestock. (Kingdon, p. 285)

Good swimmers and jumpers. (Walker, p. 93)

Prides may have up to 40 individuals, but it is rare for all to come together.  They will congregate in groups of 3-5, and any two females may only spend 25 – 50% of the time together. (Estes, p. 370)

Adult females in a territory are generally all related, and will fight off intruders unless the number of females is below the carrying capacity of the territory.  If that is the case, some subadult immigrants may be allowed in.  If the capacity is filled, young females must leave at 2-years of age. (Estes, p. 370)

Males are at their prime between 5 and 9 years old, and almost never maintain dominance in a pride for more than 2 years, 4 at the absolute most. (Estes, p. 371)

After taking over a pride, males will usually kill the offspring of the previous alpha if they can catch them. (Estes, p. 371)

Communication:

“Lion strut” = a tiptoeing gate directed at both females and subordinate males. (Kingdon, p. 286)

If humans come upon a lion, males will “bluff charge”.  Females with cubs may mean it.  Any wounded lions can be aggressive.  When about to charge, a lion will lash its tail up and down, flatten its ears and roar.  It runs slowly, then faster, crouched with head held low and tail erect and stiff.  If you run, you will almost surely be attacked. (Walker, p. 92)

Roaring is done by both males and females for communicating with each other and to demarcate territory.  They are silent when hunting and will usually only roar at night after a successful kill.  They often call at dawn to relocate pride members. (Walker, p. 93)

Roar can be heard up to 8 km away.  Males start roaring at 2 years, females soon after. (Estes, p. 374)

Activity Patterns: 

Active day and night, although most hunting is done at night. (Walker, p. 94)

Lions spend 20 – 21 hours per day resting.  Best times to observe activity are late afternoon, early and late at night, and early hours of daylight. (Estes, p. 372)

Lifespan:

Unlikely for males to live beyond 9 or 10 years.  Begin to lose mane hair and body size after 8 years. (Estes, p. 371)

Sign: 

Faeces are similar to leopard but larger.  If eating from a fresh kill with a lot of blood, it will be black and stong-smelling.  Turns white when there is a high calcium content.  May include bundles of porcupine quills. (Walker, p. 94)

Claws are fully sheathed (Walker, p. 95)

Scuffing ceremony – beginning at about two years old, they rake the ground 2 – 30 times with the back feet, sometimes accompanied by urine. (Estes, p. 374)

Predators:

Top of the food chain – no natural enemies except humans.

Small cubs in hiding may be taken by spotted hyenas, as may be sick or elderly lions. (Estes, p. 377)

Conservation/Commercial value:

Their presence is an indicator of a self-sustaining community of grazers, as lion prides are dependent on large, open areas with plentiful meat.  As wild grazers have been eliminated in favor of domestic herds, lions have been eliminated from most of Africa and will soon only be found in national parks. (Kingdon, p. 285)

One threat to their survival is humans stealing their kills. (Walker, p. 93)

People have also taken to poisoning kills to eliminate lions in Kenya.

References:

Estes, R. (1991). The Behavior Guide to African Mammals. Berkeley, CA:  The University of California Press.

Kingdon, J. (1997). The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals. Princeton, NJ:  Princeton University Press.

Walker, C. (1996). Signs of the Wild: A Field Guide to the Spoor & Signs of the Mammals of Southern Africa. (5^th Edition). Cape Town, South Africa:  Struik Publishers Ltd.