Lion

Fun Facts

Lions can get their water intake from their prey and plants such as the Tsamma melon, making them well adapted to very dry environments.

Lions can eat up to 40kg of meat in one meal! This is around a quarter of their weight.

A Lions roar can be heard from as far as 8km away!

Lions are very sociable cats, living in groups called a Pride.

Young Lions have spotty coats which generally disappear as they get older.

LATIN NAME: Panthera leo

STATUS: Vulnerable (VU)

MATURE POPULATION: 23,000 – 39,000

HEIGHT: 1.6 – 1.8m

WEIGHT: 126 – 190kg

LIFESPAN: 10 – 15 years

HABITAT: Grassland, Savanna, open woodlands

Lions are a part of the same family as cats, often referred to as big cats. Male Lions are larger than female Lions, and only Males can grow predominant manes.

Lions are symbols of strength and courage. They are an apex predator meaning that they are at the top of the food chain, with no natural predators.

Lions historic range included sub-Saharan Africa, Northern Africa, Southwest Asia, Europe and India. Lion populations became extinct in Europe around 2,000 years ago and disappeared from most of Northern African and Southwest Asian countries within the last 150 years.

Currently in Africa, Lions can be found in most Sub-Saharan African countries, although it is estimated that the population of African Lions has declined by over 40% in the last three generations.