The Lion Research Paper

Lions The Lion is a very intelligent and sophisticated animal. It has a strong set of unique physical abilities along with unbelievable mental traits. Everyone around the globe knows this animal by its common name; Lion. The animals scientific name is the Panthera leo it is derived from the Latin word Leo; with the Hebrew word lavi also intertwined. Panthera Leo means a large gregarious predatory feline of Africa and India having a tawny coat with a shaggy mane in the male essentially it mean a lion. lions previously lived in most parts of Africa but these days they are frequently found in the south Sahara desert. They are also found in parts of southern and eastern Africa. African Lions live in places such as Angola, Botswana, Mozambique,

lions typically weigh between 250 and 550 depending on if they are male or female and how old they are. They typically live to about fourteen years old in the wild and about twenty years old when in a zoo or some form of captivity. A lion is normally fully grown after about five to six years of living. A male lion has a long Mane while a female does not have a Mane at all. lions move in an extremely quick and productive manner. They will crouch crawl and even and climb if they have to. lions tend to watch their prey from a far distance before they attack. The mother tends to stay and travel along side her cubs. Lions typically live in a group sometimes refereed to as a pride. A typical pride consists of about fifteen lions. These groups consist of about five to ten females and two to three experienced males. Without having all these traits a lion on its own would be vulnerable to a group attack. Without the physical traits that the lions posses it would lack the ability to catch the prey that they need to live and be healthy. Lions prey on antelopes, buffaloes, zebras, young elephants, rhinos, hippos, wild hogs, crocodiles and giraffes. Sometimes if times get rough they will eat smaller things like mice, birds, hares, and

Lions are atop of the food web. The lions roar has adapted over time to better communicate with other lions in case they need to warn them of something. They have also developed long retractable claws that help them hold on to prey. After a cub is born it starts waling in ten days, after four to six weeks it is introduced to a pride, after six months to a year they stop using their moms milk, after eleven months they learn to hunt, after three to four years they are sexually matured, after five to six years they are fully grown and live to be fourteen to twenty years old. They usually breed once in two years. Females mate every three or four days within reproductive cycle. During this time a pair generally mates every twenty to thirty minutes, with up to fifty sexual intercourses in twenty four hours. Lions aren't necessarily nocturnal but they hunt a night for the most part. They basically deiced there own schedule, when there gonna hunt, when there gonna sleep, when the opportunities are best for feeding. It all depends with a lion they mostly hunt at night though. Lions do not hibernate. Lions are atop of the food chain so protecting itself isn't much of a problem