A, physical characteristics

Lions are the only species of male and female cat. The lion's body size is huge, male lions up to 180 cm, female lions also have 160 cm; lion's hair is short, the body color of light gray, yellow or teal, the difference is that the male lions also have a very long mane, mane light brown, dark brown, black and so on, long mane extends all the way to the shoulders and chest.

An adult male lion weighs more than 200 kilograms, and only a few African giants such as hippopotamuses and elephants are not the object of their pursuit. The lion's head is huge, with a rather wide face, long nasal bones and a black nose; the lion's ears are shorter and rounded.

Two, life habits

A lion pride consists mainly of females that are related to each other. The size of a pride is determined by the terrain and the amount of prey, and a pride can consist of 3 to 30 lions. The male only stays in a pride for a short period of time, after which he tends to seek out another pride. Nevertheless, the male lion has a higher status than the female in a pride.

There is usually only one adult male in a pride, and young lions usually stay in the pride for three years, after which the young males are expelled from the pride while the females stay in the pride. The young males form small, unstable packs to live a wandering life until they themselves become the leader of a pride.

Generally they do not reach this status until they are six years old or older. Often the leadership of a pride is taken over by another male, and usually when the older male is old or weak, a younger one will challenge him, and the defeated one will either die or flee.

If the new lion is victorious, he usually kills his predecessor's cubs so that the females can mate with him more easily. A lion's territory varies in size from 20 to 400 square kilometers.

The size of a territory is related to the size of the pride and the amount of prey in the territory. Lions generally mark their territories with dung, urine and calls that can be heard from a distance. Some lions do not have territories and live a nomadic life.

Extended information:

While the male lion reigns supreme in a pride, he can only mate with a female if she agrees. If the female is willing, she gets down on the ground and lets the male straddle her. You can generally tell from the female's attitude toward the male how high the male is in the pack and whether he will be expelled in the next gladiatorial fight.?

The female's gestation period is usually four months, after which she gives birth to two to four young. The weight of the cubs is usually 1. 5 kilograms. The cubs can suckle not only on their mother, but on every female in the group.

Raising the young is a task for the whole herd. The suckling period for the young is four months, after which they remain with their mother for about two more years. Females usually become sexually mature after three years and males after five.

Lions can live for 20 years. Usually only the females will live that long. The males are usually killed or expelled by a younger male before that, and they generally do not find another pack, often starving to death.