Lions are a muscular, deep-chested big cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears, and a hairy tuft at the end of their tail. It is also called as king of beasts. They have an archetypal roar which is used to communicate with other group members and warn different intruders of territorial boundaries. So check out these 36 interesting facts about this muscular animal lion.
- For each lion cub that survives, a lioness will have mated 3,000 times.
- They are strictly carnivores and like to hunt big animals like zebra antelopes, wild buffaloes, young elephants, rhinos, hippos, wild hogs, and crocodiles.
- Female lions are more efficient hunters than males, and over 90 percent of hunting is done by female lions. While females hunt, males like to rest.
- In the wild, males like to rest around 20 hours a day.
- Lions can live from 10-14 years in the wild, whereas about 20 years in captivity.
- The female lions are much more efficient hunters than the males.
- A lion’s roar is so strong that it can be heard from 5 miles (8 km) away. Their roar can reach 114 decibels from a distance of 1 meter.
- Lions drink daily when water is available, but they often go without water for 4-5 days.
- Lions have a gestation period of about 105-110 days and give birth to 2-4 cubs per litter.
- Baby lions are called Cubs; the babies can not roar until they reach the age of two.
- The lives of cubs are not easy as, on average, only one cub out of eight survive to adulthood.
- The roar of a lion can be heard from 8 kilometers (5 miles) away.
- The Golden Lion Tamarin can jump a distance of fifteen feet.
- Lions can reach speeds of up to 80 kph (50.3 mph) but only in short bursts because of a lack of stamina.
- They are the fastest land animal in the whole of Africa and the second-largest species among big cats, just after tigers.
- An average-sized lion can weigh anywhere around 420 pounds (190 kg), and females can weigh 280 pounds (127 kg).
- The heaviest lion on record is a male lion named Simba captivated in Colchester Zoo of England, which weighed an astonishing 380 kg. (835 lb).
- From head to the body, the male can size from 1.7 – 3m(5.5 to 9.8 ft). In comparison, Females have a size of 1.4 – 1.8m( 4.5 -5.9 ft).
- A lion’s muzzle is like a human fingerprint, and no two lions have the same whisker pattern.
- A lion feeds once every three to four days duration and needs 5 to 7 kg of meat to satisfy its hunger.
- In the wild, they do not mate in 2 years, while in captivity, they breed once a year.
- When they breed, they can mate over 100 times a day in the short duration of 20-30 minutes, and the process of their mating does not last more than 17 seconds.
- There are only one species of lions, and their scientific name is Panthera Leo. Whereas they are recognized as two subspecies known as Asiatic lions and African lions.
- Lions evolved about 25 million years ago with the other cat family. They are believed to be descendent of a common ancestor known as Proailurus Lemanensis, which means the first cat.
- Lions are considered an endangered species according to IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature). Their number has declined by 42 percent over the past 21 years.
- Lions can swim but are not seen doing it commonly, like tigers who like to get into the water occasionally when they want to cool down.
- It is estimated that there are 23000 to 39000 lions left in the world.
- Lions range in color from nearly ochre, ash brown, and deep orange-brown, white to tawny yellow.
- Mostly lions like to hunt in the night as they can stealthy kill their prey.
- Lions have excellent hearing capabilities and can hear higher-pitched sounds than that of humans or most dogs. They can detect frequencies anywhere from 55 Hz up to 79 kHz.
- After birth, their eyes are blue-grey, and they change to orangey-brown colors by the age of two-three months. They have huge eyes with round pupils, which are about three times as big as humans.
- Their eyes have a nictating membrane, just like other animals, which protects their eyes from dust and ultraviolet radiation.
- Lion’s main competition in the wild are hyenas. They hunt in the same territory and same prey. They steal food from each other and chase each other and even kill each other’s young ones.
- Lion is the national animal of sixteen countries: Belgium, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Gambia, Iran, Kenya, Libya, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and the United Kingdom.
- They have about 470 taste buds as compared to 10000 taste buds than that of humans.
- A group of male lions is called a coalition. In comparison, females lions are called pride. The pride contains their young ones and usually has not more than 20 members.
