Lion

Animals > Lion

Panthera leo

AUDIO GUIDE

0:00 0:00

Did you know the lion is the only big cat that lives in a family? A pride brings together several related females, their cubs and one or more males. The lionesses are the great hunters: they work as a team, surround their prey and surprise it at dusk. The males, with their manes, defend the territory. And the darker and fuller the mane, the stronger and healthier the male usually is. Its roar can be heard from eight kilometers away, and it is its way of saying: we are in charge here. Even so, the king of the savanna spends up to twenty hours a day resting. Today the lion is listed as vulnerable: it has disappeared from more than ninety percent of the land it once occupied. Protecting it means protecting the entire savanna.

Fun facts

It is the only big cat that lives in a family: a pride brings together several related females, their cubs and one or more males.
The lionesses are the great hunters and work as a team; the males, with their manes, defend the territory.
The darker and fuller the mane, the stronger and healthier the male usually is.
Its roar can be heard from eight kilometers away, and yet it spends up to twenty hours a day resting.
It is listed as vulnerable: it has disappeared from more than 90% of the land it once occupied.

General information

Height About 1.2 m at the shoulder; up to 2.5 m long (males)

Weight Males 150 to 250 kg; females 120 to 180 kg

Diet Carnivore. Hunts zebras, wildebeest and antelope, almost always as a team.

Speed Up to 80 km/h in short sprints

Gestation About 110 days, 2 to 4 cubs

Life expectancy 10-14 years in the wild