Swahili Name: Simba
Scientific Name: Panthera Leo
Size: 48 inches high
Weight:330 to 500 pounds
Lifespan:
13 years in captivity
Habitat:
Grassy plans and open woodlands
Diet:
Carnivorous
Gestation:
About 105 days
Predators:
Humans
The lion is a magnificent animal that appears as a symbol of power, courage
and nobility on family crests, coats of arms and national flags in many
civilizations. Lions at one time were found from Greece through the Middle East to northern India,
but today only a very small population remains in India. In the past lions lived in most parts of Africa,
but are now confined to the sub-Saharan region.
Most cat species live a fundamentally solitary existence, but the lion is an exception. It has
developed a social system based on teamwork and a division of labour within the pride, and an
extended but closed family unit centred on a group of related females. The average pride consists of
about 15 individuals, including five to 10 females with their young and two or three territorial males
that are usually brothers or pride mates.
Physical Characteristics
Generally a tawny yellow, lions, like other species, tend to be lighter in colour in hot, arid areas and
darker in areas of dense vegetation. Mature male lions are unique among the cat species for the
thick mane of brown or black hair that encircles the head and neck. The tails of lions end in a horny
spine covered with a tuft of hair.
Habitat
Lions are found in savannahs, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands.
Prides (Lions)
Lions’ are family animals and truly social in their own communities. They usually grow in groups of
15 or more animals called pride. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40. In prides lions hunt preys,
raise cubs, and defend their territory together. In prides female lions’ do most of the hunting and
cub rearing. Usually lionesses in the pride are related-mothers daughters, grandmothers, and sisters.
Many of the females in pride give birth at about the same time a cub may go to nurse from other
females as well as its mother. Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males. While
the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After
that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride.
When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, ensuring
that all future cubs will have his genes. The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride's
territory. A male's loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles (eight
kilometres). The roar warns off intruders and helps round up stray members of the pride.
Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three,
using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey. Lionesses aren't the most successful of
hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually
eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what's left. Males and females fiercely defend against any
outside lions that attempt to join their pride. Maybe in this case the family that preys together stays
together!
Fast Facts
The lions’ scientific name is Panthera Leo.
Lions belong to the Felidae or cat family.
Lions once roamed in Africa, southern Europe, and parts of Asia. Today their primary
habitats are in Africa, with a few still living in the Gir Forest of India. One way researchers
identify individual lions is by recording the spots on their muzzles.
Unlike most cats, lions are excellent swimmers.
Lions are the only members of the cat family (Felidae) with manes, though only the male
lions have manes.
Scientists believe that male lions' manes make them look fierce and may help protect their
throats in battle with other males.
A male lion marks the territory of his pride by spraying a mixture of urine and glandular
secretions on tree trunks and bushes.
After they feed, lions may not hunt for a few days. But when they eat, they usually eat all of
their prey at once.
Lions are carnivores—meat eaters. They hunt animals ranging in size from small hares to
large buffalo.
A typical meal for an adult male lion is 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of meat, though lions can
consume as much as 60 pounds (27 kilograms) at a sitting.
When lions walk, their heels don't touch the ground.
A full grown adult male lion can weigh between 330 and 550 pounds (150 and 259
kilograms).
Lions live in grasslands and plains. Their tawny-coloured coats act as camouflage. They are
not jungle dwellers.
Generally, the darker the lion's mane, the older he is.
Cubs are born in litters of one to six, with two to four being the average number. Their
average weight at birth is two to four pounds (one to two kilograms).
Lions can run at a top speed of 36 miles (58 kilometres) an hour, but not for long.
Lions remain inactive for up to 20 hours each day. They wait until the coolest, darkest times
to hunt.
When males are forced to leave the pride that they were born into, they form small
bachelor groups and roam. Lions have been known to live nearly 30 years in captivity and
have an average life span of 15 years in the wild.
Lions are the second largest big cat species in the world (behind tigers).
The average male lion weighs around 180 kg (400 lb) while the average female lion weighs
around 130 kg (290 lb).
The heaviest lion on record weighed an amazing 375 kg (826 lb.).
Lions can reach speeds of up to 81 kph (50 mph) but only in short bursts because of a lack of
stamina.
The roar of a lion can be heard from 8 kilometres (5.0 miles) away.
Most lions found in the wild live in southern and eastern parts of Africa.
Lions are very social compared to other cat species, often living in prides that feature
females, offspring and a few adult males.
Male lions are easy to recognize thanks to their distinctive manes. Males with darker manes
are more likely to attract female lions (lionesses).
Lions are the national animal of Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, Ethiopia, Luxembourg,
the Netherlands and Singapore.
Lions in the wild live for around 12 years.
When lions breed with tigers the resulting hybrids are known as ligers and tigons. There are
also lion and leopard hybrids known as leopons and lion and jaguar hybrids known as
jaglions.
Lionesses are better hunters than males and do most of the hunting for a pride.
.In the wild, lions rest for around 20 hours a day.
FACT FILE:
Swahili Name:
Tembo or ndovu
Scientific Name:
Loxodonta Africana
Size: Up to 11 feet
Weight:
31/2 - 61/2 tons (7,000 13,200 lb)
Lifespan:
60 to 70 years
Habitat:
Dense forest to open plains
Diet: Herbivorous
Gestation: About 22 months
Predators: Humans
The African elephant and the Asian elephant are the only two surviving species
of what was in prehistoric times a diverse and populous group of large
mammals. Fossil records suggest that the elephant has some unlikely distant
relatives, namely the small, rodent like hyrax and the ungainly aquatic dugong.
They all are thought to have evolved from a common stock related to
ungulates. In East Africa many well-preserved fossil remains of earlier
elephants have aided scientists in dating the archaeological sites of prehistoric
man.
Physical Characteristics
The African elephant is the largest living land mammal, one of the most
impressive animals on earth.
Of all its specialized features, the muscular trunk is the most remarkable it
serves as a nose, a hand, an extra foot, a signalling device and a tool for
gathering food, siphoning water, dusting, digging and a variety of other
functions. Not only does the long trunk permit the elephant to reach as high as
23 feet, but it can also perform movements as delicate as picking berries or
caressing a companion. It is capable, too, of powerful twisting and coiling
movements used for tearing down trees or fighting. The trunk of the African
elephant has two finger-like structures at its tip, as opposed to just one on the
Asian elephant (Elephants’ Maximus).
The tusks, another remarkable feature, are greatly elongated incisors
(elephants have no canine teeth); about one-third of their total length lies
hidden inside the skull. The largest tusk ever recorded weighed 214 pounds
and was 138 inches long. Tusks of this size are not found on elephants in Africa
today, as over the year’s hunters and poachers have taken animals with the
largest tusks. Because tusk size is an inherited characteristic, it is rare to find
one now that would weigh more than 100 pounds.
Both male and female African elephants have tusks, although only males in the
Asiatic species have them. Tusks grow for most of an elephant's lifetime and
are an indicator of age. Elephants are "right- or left-tusked," using the favored
tusk more often as a tool, thus, shortening it from constant wear. Tusks will
differ in size, shape and direction; researchers use them (and the elephant's
ears) to identify individuals.
Although the elephant's remaining teeth do not attract the ivory poacher, they
are nonetheless interesting and ultimately determine the natural life span of
the elephant. The cheek teeth erupt in sequence from front to rear (12 on each
side, six upper and six lower), but with only a single tooth or one and a part of
another, being functional in each half of each jaw at one time. As a tooth
becomes badly worn, it is pushed out and replaced by the next tooth growing
behind. These large, oblong teeth have a series of cross ridges across the
surface. The last molar, which erupts at about 25 years, has the greatest
number of ridges but must also serve the elephant for the rest of its life. When
it has worn down, the elephant can no longer chew food properly;
malnutrition sets in, hastening the elephant's death, usually between 60 and
70 years of age.
The African elephant's ears are over twice as large as the Asian elephants’ and
have a different shape, often described as similar to a map of Africa. The nicks,
tears and scars as well as different vein patterns on the ears help distinguish
between individuals. Elephants use their ears to display, signal or warn when
alarmed or angry, they spread the ears, bringing them forward and fully
extending them. The ears also control body temperature. By flapping the ears
on hot days, the blood circulates in the ear's numerous veins; the blood
returns to the head and body about 9 F cooler.
The sole of the elephant's foot is covered with a thick, cushion like padding
that helps sustain weight, prevents slipping and deadens sound. When they
need to, elephants can walk almost silently. An elephant usually has five
hoofed toes on each forefoot and four on each hind foot. When it walks, the
legs on one side of the body move forward in unison.
Sometimes it is difficult for the layman to distinguish between male and female
elephants as the male has no scrotum (the testes are internal), and both the
male and the female have loose folds of skin between the hind legs. Unlike
other herbivores, the female has her two teats on her chest between her front
legs. As a rule, males are larger than females and have larger tusks, but
females can usually be identified by their pronounced foreheads.
Habitat
Elephants can live in nearly any habitat that has adequate quantities of food
and water. Their ideal habitat consists of plentiful grass and browse.
Behaviour
Elephants are generally gregarious and form small family groups consisting of
an older matriarch and three or four offspring, along with their young. It was
once thought that family groups were led by old bull elephants, but these
males are most often solitary. The female family groups are often visited by
mature males checking for females in estruses. Several interrelated family
groups may inhabit an area and know each other well. When they meet at
watering holes and feeding places, they greet each other affectionately.
Females mature at about 11 years and stay in the group, while the males,
which mature between 12 and 15, are usually expelled from the maternal herd.
Even though these young males are sexually mature, they do not breed until
they are in their mid- or late 20s (or even older) and have moved up in the
social hierarchy. Mature male elephants in peak condition experience an
annual period of heightened sexual and aggressive activity called musth.
During this period, which may last a week or even up to three to four months,
the male produces secretions from swollen temporal glands, continuously
dribbles a trail of strong-smelling urine and makes frequent mating calls.
Females are attracted to these males and prefer to mate with them rather
than with males not in musth.
Smell is the most highly developed sense, but sound deep growling or rumbling
noises is the principle means of communication. Some researchers think that
each individual has its signature growl by which it can be distinguished.
Sometimes elephants communicate with an ear-splitting blast when in danger
or alarmed, causing others to form a protective circle around the younger
members of the family group. Elephants make low-frequency calls, many of
which, though loud, are too low for humans to hear. These sounds allow
elephants to communicate with one another at distances of five or six miles.
Diet
An elephant's day is spent eating (about 16 hours), drinking, bathing, dusting,
wallowing, playing and resting (about three to five hours). As an elephant only
digests some 40 percent of what it eats, it needs tremendous amounts of
vegetation (approximately 5 percent of its body weight per day) and about 30
to 50 gallons of water. A young elephant must learn how to draw water up into
its trunk and then pour it into its mouth. Elephants eat an extremely varied
vegetarian diet, including grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and seed pods. The
fibrous content of their food and the great quantities consumed makes for
large volumes of dung.
Caring for the Young
Usually only one calf is born to a pregnant female. An orphaned calf will usually
be adopted by one of the family's lactating females or suckled by various
females. Elephants are very attentive mothers, and because most elephant
behaviour has to be learned, they keep their offspring with them for many
years. Tusks erupt at 16 months but do not show externally until 30 months.
The calf suckles with its mouth (the trunk is held over its head); when its tusks
are 5 or 6 inches long, they begin to disturb the mother and she weans it. Once
weaned usually at age 4 or 5, the calf still remains in the maternal group.
Predators
Elephants once were common throughout Africa, even in northern Africa as
late as Roman times. They have since disappeared from that area due to
overhunting and the spread of the desert. Even though they are remarkably
adaptable creatures, living in habitats ranging from lush rain forest to semi
desert, there has been much speculation about their future. Surviving
populations are pressured by poachers who slaughter elephants for their tusks
and by rapidly increasing human settlements, which restrict elephants'
movements and reduce the size of their habitat. Today it would be difficult for
elephants to survive for long periods of time outside protected parks and
reserves. But confining them also causes problems without access any longer
to other areas, they may harm their own habitat by overfeeding and overuse.
Sometimes they go out of protected areas and raid nearby farms.
Did you know?
The elephant is distinguished by its high level of intelligence, interesting
behaviour, methods of communication and complex social structure.
Elephants seem to be fascinated with the tusks and bones of dead elephants,
fondling and examining them. The myth that they carry them to secret
"elephant burial grounds," however, has no factual base.
Elephants are very social, frequently touching and caressing one another and
entwining their trunks.
Elephants demonstrate concern for members of their families they take care of
weak or injured members and appear to grieve over a dead companion.