The Lion - Africa's Largest Predator

The lion is a carnivorous mammal that lives in the south of Africa with a coat of beige or tan color. It has a mane of darker color and is most powerful and the largest carnivore of Africa. The white lion is not a different species and is only found in captivity.

The lion is a predator with a huge appetite. They eat more than 10 kilos of meat per day and sometimes even more. Lions prey on smaller mammals such as rodents,  rabbits,  and gazelle but  when hunger and availability combine they also take large prey like the buffalo, giraffe and zebra.

The lion is fast and can run from 45 to 65 km/h but it's endurance at this pace is not great, hardly from 100 to 200 meters.

Lions sleep up to 20 hours per day. The male is happy to leave the hunting to the females, which hunt in groups, but he is always the first to eat. After he has his full the others in the pride are allowed to eat.

They live in very hot climates, so lions like the shade and love the coolness of a cave or will climb a tree to benefit from the canopy and the breeze.

The lions live in group, called a pride, of several females and several males. The males are interdependent between them and the females and their young make in the same way.

After mating the gestation period lasts from 100 to 120 days. The female leaves the group to give birth to 2 or 4 small. During the first two months they survive on their mother's milk. After they are weaned and on solid food they quickly learn the art of hunting and self protection as part of the pride.

The male is called a lion, the female a lioness and the young are called cubs.

The lifespan of the lion in nature will last 15 years, and up to thirty years in captivity.