What do lions live in

Lions use their roar as one form of communication. Other sounds lions produce include growls, snarls, hisses, meows, grunts, and puffs, which sound like a stifled sneeze and is used in friendly situations. Lions have other forms of communication as well, mostly used to mark territory. They spread their scent by rubbing their muzzle on tufts of grass or shrubs, and they rake the earth with their hind paws, as the paws have scent glands, too.

Adult males also spray urine—stand back! Save Save. Prime habitat for lions is open woodlands, thick grassland, and brush habitat where there is enough cover for hunting and denning. These areas of grassland habitat also provide food for the herbivores lions prey upon. Lions usually hunt at night, particularly at dusk and dawn, with lionesses doing most of the work. A lion chasing down prey can run the length of a football field in six seconds.

Their eyes have a horizontal streak of nerve cells, which improves their vision following prey across a plain. Lions have been spotted taking down prey as large as buffalo and giraffes! They may even drag this heavy prey into thickets of brush to keep other wildlife from getting to it.

Lions hunt antelope and other ungulates, baby elephants or rhinos, rodents, reptiles, insects, and even crocodiles. They also scavenge or steal prey from leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, or African hunting dogs also called painted dogs , even eating food that has spoiled. Lions digest their food quickly, which allows them to return soon for a second helping after gorging themselves the first time. At the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the lions get lean ground meat made for zoo carnivores as well as an occasional large bone, thawed rabbit, or sheep carcass.

A lioness gives birth to her cubs in a secluded location away from the pride. Cubs remain hidden for four to six weeks as they gain strength, learn to walk, and play with one another and their mother.

When they return to the pride, they can nurse from any adult lioness in the pride, not just their own mother.

In fact, the females in a pride often give birth around the same time, which makes for lots of playmates! Cubs born in a pride are twice as likely to survive as those born to a lioness that is on her own. However, if a new adult male takes over the pride, he may kill cubs under one year old so that he can father new ones. Under favorable conditions, a lioness can produce cubs roughly every other year.

From the time they are born, cubs have a lot to learn! At three months old, cubs are able to follow their mother wherever she goes, and they are weaned by the age of six months. At about one year old, males start to get fuzz around their neck that grows into the long mane adult male lions are famous for. How long a lion cub stays with Mom depends on the sex of the cub.

Other conservationists have focused on creating protected areas for lions. Now about a hundred lions roam the reserve. All rights reserved. Animals Photo Ark. African lions are revered the world over, but their population has shrunk in half over the past 25 years.

Conflict with humans is one of the greatest threats they face. Common Name: African lions. Scientific Name: Panthera leo. Type: Mammals. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: Pride. Size: Head and body, 4. Weight: to pounds. Size relative to a 6-ft man:. Least Concern Extinct. Current Population Trend: Decreasing. This photo was submitted to Your Shot, our photo community on Instagram.

Follow us on Instagram at natgeoyourshot or visit us at natgeo. Lions are the most sociable members of the cat family living in prides with up to 25 others. This is down to the availability of prey in the area.

The females are all related, often making up the majority of the pride, consisting of only males. The primary motivation for heading up into the branches it to avoid something unpleasant on the ground, such as an attack by elephants or buffalo. These skirmishes often occur after a failed predation event, when the prey animals have sufficent numcers to retaliate. Elephants and buffalo are quite capable of killing a cornered lion due to their size and strength.

Lions may also climb trees to get better vantage points for identifying potential targets, or to avoid biting insects. The Asiatic subspecies is listed as Endangered.

Lions face a number of threats, including habitat loss, a decline in their prey species, trade in bones and other body parts for traditional medicine, and killing in retribution and defence of human life and livestock. What do you think will save lions from going the way of sabre-toothed cats? More severe penalties for persecution?

Greater restrictions on where people can live? Or a model that offers those Africans who live with lions some recompense for doing so? Lions are in trouble.

Populations are declining across Africa, mainly because of increasing conflict with herders of cattle and other livestock. Lions in some countries are fairing better than others. In South Africa, for example, the population increased by 7 per cent over two decades, largely thanks to the use of fencing that separates the predators from the people. In Zimbabwe, numbers have grown by more than 1, per cent but from a very, very low base of about 50 , mainly on the back of trophy hunting. Now new research has found that lions are doing better in the Masai Mara ecosystem, in Kenya where in fact the overall country trend is down thanks to the creation of community conservancies.

Households with conservancy membership receive a share of the money that comes from wildlife tourism. Where there are lions and other carnivores, you get more tourists and local people are financially better off.

Not only that, but those livestock settlements that were not members of a conservancy and were within the home range of a lion pride had a large negative effect on lioness survival rates. Find out about Living With Lions. Lions in west and central Africa are more closely related to these Asiatic lions in India, than to those found in southern and east Africa.

Young lions have rosettes and spots on their sandy coats, but these generally disappear as they mature. Male lions grow impressive manes the older they get. These manes grow up to 16cm long and are a sign of dominance. The older they get, the darker their manes go. As well as attracting females, their manes may also protect their neck and head from injuries during fights.

A pride of lions is usually made up of related females and their cubs, plus a male or small group of males who defend their pride. The lionesses rear their cubs together and cubs can suckle from any female with milk. Lions are highly adaptable and can live in very dry areas like the Kalahari Desert. Here they get most of their water from their prey and will even drink from plants such as the Tsamma melon.

Their tongues have sharp-pointed rasps, called papillae, which are used to scrape meat off the bones.