Lions are amazing and beautiful animals that combine both beauty and grace with strength and power. The Lion all around the world is known as the King of the Jungle and is the poster boy of the Wild Cats.
A Male Lion stands up to 1.2 m at the shoulder and can weigh up to 200kg. Females are slightly smaller than the male but weigh almost half as much as the male at 130kg. Their coats are yellow / tan in colour that goes well with their royal status as yellow = Gold. The Male Lion has long hair that encircle its neck that can differ in colour from tan/gold to completely black and is seen as the Crown of the King. The Lion, both male and female, has a very piercing gaze that can strike fear into almost anything thatgets stuck in its gaze.
Lions are powerful animals that are very social and care for one another in the pride. All the females will try to give birth at the same time to make raising their and each other’s cubs easier as the females of the pride are one big family and take care of each other’s cubs. The females will hunt together while the males can take care of the cubs. Females have a gestation period of 110 days where after 4 cubs are born. Cubs will feed on their mother for 6 months. Cubs will stay with their pride for 3 years and afterwards they will either stay with the pride (female) or travel to other prides (males). Animals that fall prey to lions include Zebra, Antelope, Giraffe, Porcupines, Buffalo, Wildebeest and Steenbok.
Lion prides will vary in size from 12 to 20 members, where 2 – 12 females are related with each other. A lion’s Roar is so powerful and loud that it can be heard a few kilometres away. The roar of a lion is so iconic that it is actually associated with the Kruger National Park and the African Wild. Aside from just roaring to communicate their intentions or warning other lions to stay away from their territory, they also mark their territories by using various scents. Lions will also use various facial expressions to display their expression and emotion. When lions are agitated or aggressive, they will show their very large and intimidating canines, retract their ears to display the darker spot behind their ears, and also twitch their tails.