Did you know?//Random facts book

Lions

(Image above from google)
1. African lions are the most social of all big cats and live together in groups or "prides." A pride consists of about 15 lions.

2. Male lions defend the pride's territory while females do most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.

3.  The lion was once found throughout Africa, Asia and Europe but now exists only in Africa with one exception. The last remaining Asiatic lions are found in Sasan-Gir National Park in India, which was primarily created to protect the species. Currently, there are approximately 350-400 lions in the park.

4. A lion's roar can be heard from as far as 5 miles away.

5. A lion can run for short distances at 50 mph and leap as far as 36 feet.

6. Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the "king of the jungle," it actually only lives in grasslands and plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.

7. A good gauge of a male lion's age is the darkness of his mane. The darker the mane, the older the lion.

8. A lion's heels don't touch the ground when it walks.

9. The name for a baby lion is a cub, whelp or lionet.

10. In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.

11. Female lions reach two-thirds of their adult size by the time they are two years old.

12. Lions run at a speed of up to 81kmph.

13. Lions have also been described as heroic, even in protecting humans. For instance, a 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was abducted in 2005 by men attempting to force her into marriage. She was found a week later protected by three lions who stood guard until police found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest.

14. Second Largest Big Cat: A male lion weighs about 500 pounds and grows to eight feet in length. It sounds impressive, but tigers are actually larger, reaching 850 pounds and 11 feet long.

15. Females Live Together for Life: Female lions, sisters, live together for life. Their female cubs also stay with the pride, even after they're grown, but male cubs must venture out on their own once they reach maturity.

16. A National Symbol: Lions are associated with pride, courage, and strength, making them a perfect national symbol. Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Singapore all regard the lion as their national symbol.

17. One genetic anomaly has produced a white African lion – not albinoism, but an actual gene that changes the body colour.

18. Although lions can hunt at any time, they go after big preys, as a coordinated pack at night – and they are always successful about 50% of the time.

19. Lions will kill anything, from mice and lizards for a quick snack, up to wildebeest or even young hippos and elephants, which will feed the whole pride for several meals.

20. If a lion wins the fight with another pride male and therefore takes over a new pride, often the first thing he does is kill any cub in this pride, in order to bring the lionesses back into heat. This removes the old male's progeny and lets the new one start spreading his own genes all in one go.

21. Some lionesses are great mothers, others lose interest very quickly, but since there are usually several litters at a time and the girls allow any cub to suckle, not just their own, the neglected ones can often survive anyway.

22. Female lions prefer to mate with males that have the longest and darkest  manes.

23. A lion can leap as far as 36 feet.

24. Unlike most other cats, lions are very good swimmers.

25. Male lions are the only big cats that look different than the females of the species.

26. A lions bite is 30 tines stringer than the bite of a house cat.

27. Tanzania has the biggest population of lions in Africa.

28. Lions come in many different colours such as tan, brown, yellow and even red.

That's all the facts I have for you today. I hope you liked this update and found some of these facts interesting. What should I do facts about next??? Please let me know.

See you in the next chapter.

Baiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii