Lion
Panthera leo
Lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the genus Panthera, family Felidae, order Carnivora.
Scientific classification
| Rank | Taxon |
|---|---|
| Domain | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Carnivora |
| Family | Felidae |
| Genus | Panthera |
| Species | Panthera leo |
Description
The lion is the second-largest living cat after the tiger, and the only one in which the sexes look markedly different: males carry a mane whose extent and colour vary with age, testosterone and climate, and which is absent or vestigial in some populations. Males weigh roughly 150–225 kilograms and females 110–150.
Distribution and habitat
Lions once ranged across Africa, southeastern Europe, the Middle East and into India. They are now confined to sub-Saharan Africa, in fragmented populations, plus a single Asiatic population in and around the Gir Forest of Gujarat. They occupy savanna, scrub and open woodland, avoiding dense rainforest and the deep desert.
Behaviour
The lion is the only felid that lives in permanent social groups. A pride is built around a core of related females that remain in their natal range for life and hunt, raise and defend cubs communally; cubs of similar age are suckled by any lactating female in the group. Males form coalitions, often of brothers, that hold tenure over a pride for perhaps two to four years before being displaced by a rival coalition — an event usually followed by the killing of dependent cubs, which returns the females to oestrus.
Females do most of the hunting, frequently in coordinated groups that allow them to take prey larger than themselves: wildebeest, zebra, buffalo and, in some prides, young elephant and giraffe.
Conservation
Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The principal pressures are habitat loss, depletion of wild prey, and retaliatory killing following livestock predation. The Asiatic population is small and geographically concentrated, which leaves it exposed to disease and stochastic events regardless of its numbers.
References
- Schaller, G. B. (1972). The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator–Prey Relations. University of
Chicago Press.
- Bauer, H. et al. (2016). Panthera leo. IUCN Red List assessment 15951.