5 Fascinating facts about Lions
5 Fascinating facts about Lions: Lions are amazing and breathtaking animals among the category wildlife and big cats, lions are listed among the big five together with elephants, buffaloes, leopards and lions. Lions are huge animals in the regards of cats and they are ranked as the second most sought for animals after the endangered mountain gorillas as they are found in few exceptional areas (national parks) in East Africa. This article focuses on lions living in East African countries that is Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda, these countries have the best destinations which you can visit and enjoy sights of the beautiful animals in their natural habitat.
Lions in are found in various national parks in East Africa and in these parks they can easily be tracked and seen, in Uganda lions are found in queen Elizabeth national park, Murchison falls national park, kidepo valley national park. Lions in Kenya are found in Masai Mara national reserve, Tsavo east national park, Tsavo west national park, Samburu national park. In Tanzania lions are found in Serengeti national park, Ngorongoro crater, Lake Manyara national park and Tarangire national park. In Rwanda lions are found in Akagera national park
Below are beautiful animals and below are the five facts which make lions amazing and fascinating animals.
Lions are social animals
Lions have been recognized to be one of the most social creatures on wildlife list of big cat family, these animals live in groups when compared to other big cats which live in solitary. A lion’s group also referred to as a pride consists of 10 – 15 lions and they are lead by a dominant male lion who is responsible for protecting the group, the reason behind the formation of pride is that it acts as a mechanism for survival to lions as it makes them easy to kill by encircling their prey to defeat. Lions feed on prey such as antelopes, kobs, small animals and at time attack big animals like buffalo especially when they come to water sources like rivers to drink water. In the lion’s social setting, the bigger the pride the advantageous it is for the pride as larger pride have more chance to monopolize a prime territory while smaller prides are pushed to the end margins of the park. Prime territory is an area near the river bank, this place is more strategic for hunting as lion’s prey come to the river to drink water.
At the age of 2-3 years male cubs set out to start conquering their own prides, in case a lion has no relative that is a brother or a cousin it is free to partner with another singleton to for a pride and if it fails it is bond to live a solitary life.
Lionesses are responsible for hunting
Unlike other animals and big cats where a male is responsible for hunting, in the setting of lions it is a responsibility of lionesses to do the hunting. Lionesses carry out hunting expeditions and their location for prey is done in thick vegetation where they hide and wait for their prey and at the banks of the rivers. The reason why it is lionesses are responsibilities to do hunting is because they are faster and lighter than a male lion, lions require different amount of meat per day. Male lions require at least 7 kilograms per day and lionesses require at least 5 kilograms of meat, the lionesses also depend on scavenging and watching vultures to lead them to the carcass. When the lionesses kill the prey it is the male lion which eats first and the lionesses permit it because male lions cannot properly protect the pride from attacks when hungry.
Lions are Nocturnal
Lions are nocturnal beings with ability to sleep for approximately 20 hours and be active for 4- 5 hours a day this explains why they are more active during night, lions do their hunting majorly in the night and it is rare for them to hunt during day. Usually the day for lions begins at dusk and ends at dawn, though lions usually sleep during it is exceptional in areas/ territory with enough water supply because they get to hunt for their prey.
Lions are defined by their mane
Though there is mane less lions, the most remarkable feature on a lion is the mane. A lion’s mane refers to the tuft of fur that grows and visible around the neck, a lion’s mane starts growing around a lion’s neck when it is about 1 year old and by the time a lion clocks 2 years of age the mane has already covered the neck, head and the chest region. A lion’s mane stops growing at the age of 3 -4 years, the growth of a lion’s mane depends on the nature/environment a lion grows that is in captivity and free range in wild nature. Lions in captivity grow larger manes when compared to those in the wild, about identification lions are identified by the tone of their mane. The darkness of the lion’s mane implies superiority to the lion among its age mates, it also attracts more females (lionesses) to the male with more darker mane. The most important crucial indication give by a lion’s mane is the fighting abilities and health of the lion to its pride.
Lions are critically threatened wildlife species
Lions are listed among critically threatened wildlife species by international Union of Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened species as vulnerable, from the beginning lions lived in big numbers all over the world but currently they can only be found in Africa. The most noticeable threat to lions is habitant loss, lions live in the jungle but because development of towns and infrastructures a lot of jungle and wilderness have been destroyed. In summary lions are threatened by habitat loss.
