CARNIVORES

Scientific Name: Panthera Leo

INTERESTING FACTS:

African Lions are one of the African Big Five (the others being Elephant, Leopard, Cape Buffalo and Rhino).

They live in different social structures: most commonly in family groups, called prides. The biggest prides consist of up to 9 males, up to around 21 related adult females and their offspring.

Not all lions live in prides though, there are bachelor groups of few individuals of the same sex and lions who live solitary as well.

All lions are able to hunt prey and defend their territory, in prides the jobs are often split: the females take care of most of the hunting, while the males are protecting the pride against intruders.

Lions are sexually dimorphic, which means you can easily distinguish adult males and females. The most striking feature of the males is their mane, which is there to protect their necks in fights with rivals.