The lion (Panthera leo) has been disappearing from the wild at a rapid rate. Now there’s one for alarming lion facts. 100 Facts About Cats That You Should Read Right Meow. In 2011, a tiger killed a lion with a single paw at Ankara Zoo in Turkey. Even African lions aren’t entirely safe. It doesn’t have to worry about anything except protecting its kingdom. Once ruled over the vast area of Africa and Eurasia, this magnificent beast is now in a vulnerable condition. Quick Facts. Outside of the internet, you might have seen stone beasts like the one above around and wondered exactly what you were looking at. They prefer flatter grasslands over any type of forest. In the cat family, only cheetah outruns it. Lions can run up to 81 kmph (50 mph) for short bursts. It is represented in the constellation Leo and is also a zodiac sign. Who’s your money on? Fortunately, this rare color mutation has not affected the white lion’s survival in the wild. If it came down to a saving human life or saving a vulnerable species, the vast majority of us would choose the human life. Lions are most active at night and live in a variety of habitats but prefer grassland, savanna, dense scrub, and open woodland. The ancient Greeks and Persians might have noticed it as well. Today, lions are extinct in 26 African countries with less than an estimated 30,000 wild lions remaining. One of the cooler lion facts is that the Lion King isn’t just a Disney film. Source: birminghammail.co.uk, Image: Wikimedia, Lev is the currency of Bulgaria, an Eastern European Country. Lions have been known to mate with various other creatures. A group of lions is known as a pride, and consists of around six related females, multiple cubs of both genders and up to two males. We don’t know exactly how the “king of the jungle” idea got started. 50 Refreshing Snapple Facts About The Drink Of The 90s, 50 Car Symbols On Your Dashboard That Can Save Your Life, 100 Interesting Facts That Will Boggle Your Mind, 300 Random Facts No One Knows What To Do With, 100 Nutrition Facts To An Easier And Healthier Lifestyle, 100 Amazing Facts That Will Blow Your Mind, 300 WTF Facts That Will Make You Question Everything, 300 Weird Facts That Will Confuse And Amaze You At The Same Time, 100 Did You Know Facts Most People Have Never Heard About. © 2020 The Fact Site | All Rights Reserved | Sitemap, The Fact Site requires you to enable Javascript to browse our website, 15 Interesting Facts About The Planet Mercury. Let us know below! However, Lions take the piece of meat first. This includes engaging with local communities such as anti-poisoning campaigns, providing better livestock enclosures, and taking school children on trips to see the wildlife they’re protecting. There’s a rule of thumb when it comes to supposed man-eating animals: they’re misunderstood, and 7 times out of ten, they’d take a gazelle or deer over a human. Lions have excellent eyesight and poor camouflage compared to other cats; a sandy, relatively unmarked coat like a lion’s blends more with the dry grass of the plains than jungle foliage. Tigon is smaller and lighter than Liger and weighs around 180 kilograms or 400 lbs. The heaviest lion on record was at Colchester Zoo in England. He’s making sure that the hunting ground stays with him and his pride. Around 600 lions are killed every year by tourists on Trophy Hunt. While tigers are bigger and heavier, lions have better fighting skills. Source: Wikipedia, Image: mnn.com, When a lioness mates with a male leopard, their offspring is a Leopon. Male lions sleep around twenty hours per day, while lionesses in general sleep 15 to 18 hours per day. Due to a number of factors, with the biggest probably being human hunting, there is only one subspecies of lion that is not currently found in Africa: the Indian or Persian lion (Panthera leo persica). For the longest time, the lion was known as the “King of the Jungle.” If you’ve ever seen The Lion King, however, you know exactly how easy this myth is to bust. Lions have fewer cones in their eyes, which makes them see less color. When cubs are around 1 year of age, Lioness teaches them hunting skills until cubs reach the age of 3. Pride of Lions. A tiger could be outnumbered by a lion and his harem. When a lioness mates with a male jaguar, the hybrid is known as a Jaglion. Because of this perfect mix, ligers tend to be the most expensive, usually bred for business or profit. Lioness does not have a mane and they are attracted to the lion with a full-grown mane. A pride only has up to 3 males with several females and their young. Lions can open their jaws up to 28 cm wide. Lions are the tallest of all big cats. Young lions have rosettes and spots on their sandy coats, but these generally disappear as they mature. The average lifespan of a lion can vary, but they will generally live in the wild for around 12 years.