Lion€¦ · from the animal, and pulls it down backwards and sideways. Once the animal is down, the lion then lunges for its throat or nose’ applies a killing strangulation hold,

– Game Ranging / Field Guiding Course

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Mammals © Copyright

Module # 7 – Component # 7

Lion

Classification

Lions are classified in the following manner:

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Order Carnivora

Family Felidae

Genus Panthera

Species leo

Common names:

English Lion

German Löwe

French Lion

Afrikaans Leeu

Zulu Ngonyam

Swati Ingala

Swahili Simba



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Myth & Legend The lion has been one of the most talked about animals on the African plains and

not surprisingly has been the main topic of conversation around camp fires for thousands of years. Of the multitude of stories recounted about the lion, this one

has its origins among the Shona people. These people believe that there are three types of lion. The zwikara is the ordinary

animal which is the prime destroyer of cattle, sheep and people. It may be hunted and killed with impunity.

The other two cannot be harmed and it is even dangerous for anyone to try. These are shumba dze midzemu and the zwetebgwe. The former is the embodiment

of a former chieftain who has come to visit a relative and is harmless. It will avoid killing one from its own kraal (village), and as a spirit lion it comes only at night.

Zwetebgwe, however, is the maneless lion and is really an evil person transformed. These are people who have a craving for raw flesh, and have had a

magician change their form into that of a lion to satisfy their desire. These lions will kill man and beast indiscriminately and should be avoided at costs.



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Vital Statistics

Males Females

Shoulder height 1.2m (3.9 ft.) 0.95 m (3 ft.)

Weight 200Kg (440lbs.) 126 Kg (280 lbs.)

Gestation period 3.5 months

Hunting success

30-50% (for 2 or more co-operatively)

Maximum speed 60 k.p.h. (40 m.p.h.)

Killing technique Strangulation

Social grouping Prides of 5 -13 members

Territory size 20 - 400Km2 (8 - 150 miles)

Longevity 10 - 12 years

Record Auction Price: R300,000.00

Lion – Panthera leo



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General Ecology The lion is the greatest of all the African cats, the largest in the world being the

Asian tiger, and fortunately these cats never share the same habitat. Adult male lions reach 120 cm (3.9 ft) tall at the shoulder and weigh up to a massive 200 Kg

(440 lb.), the heaviest recorded being 260 Kg (572 lb.). The female is predictably smaller, averaging 10 cm (2.5 in.) smaller and 70 Kg

(154 lb.) lighter. The lion’s most distinctive feature is the mane of the males. These manes are generally a tan colour, graduating to black.



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Hunting

The lion is the epitome of the carnivore (meat eating animal). They will in fact take just about any form of it. Records show that lion have taken rabbits, tortoises,

porcupines, pangolins, aardvarks, birds, warthog, bushpig and crocodiles. However, their main diet consists of ungulates of all sizes from the three kg (6.6 lb.) Suni

antelope to the 650 kg (1,430 lb.) Eland, 750 kg (1,653 lb.) Buffalo and 1,500 kg (3,307 lb.) Giraffe.

On average, species like the 240 kg (528 lb.) wildebeest are most frequently taken. As far as the very large herbivores are concerned, including the Giraffe, Rhinoceros,

Hippopotamus and Elephant, these species are very seldom chosen as prey. When these are eaten, they are usually the young, which have strayed from the protection of their mothers. Lions are, however, lazy by nature and are not averse

to taking carrion, or driving a harder working predator off their kill, which they frequently do. Predators affected in this way include cheetah, leopard, spotted

hyena, wild dog, crocodile and caracal. Lions hunt singularly, in twos and in groups, and their success rate is almost

proportionate to the number of animals on the hunt. Solitary lions have a 15 - 20 % success rate, going up to 30 - 50 % for two or more. Just fewer than half the

hunts observed will involve a single lion, and 20 % will have just two. Also, more than 85 % of all hunts only include lionesses.

On these hunts, the males usually hang back and wait for the kill to be made. If the lionesses are successful, the males then casually walk in and take “The lion’s

share".



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Lions can only reach a modest speed of 60 kph (± 40 mph). What this translates to, is that they need to rely on skill, patience and team work. Lions use their exceptionally well camouflaged coat, in addition to stalking techniques and

utilising the wind to its fullest to catch their prey. Experienced lion will rarely charge unless they are at least within 30 metres (± 100 ft) of their quarry, as they can

only maintain their top speed for 100 metres (± 330 ft) or so. Pride females are also seen to hunt co-operatively. In this way, several members of a pride may

simultaneously stalk a herd. This greatly increases their chance for success as the hunting party now has multiple vantage points for a rush at their intended quarry.



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Stalking and Killing Once within catching distance of its prey, the lion or more commonly the lioness,

must bring it down and kill without getting hurt in the process.

On smaller game, such as an Impala ram or a bushbuck, they trip the animal, or simply drag it down by its haunches, and once down they attack the throat.

To bring larger game down, such as Zebra, Buffalo or Wildebeest, a different approach is taken. In this scenario, the lion comes at the prey from an oblique

angle, rears up and throws one paw around the animal’s neck, while getting another hold with the other. The lion is now literally hanging upside down

from the animal, and pulls it down backwards and sideways. Once the animal is down, the lion then lunges for its throat or nose’ applies a killing strangulation hold, and holds it until the animal stops moving and breathing.

Assertions that lions break the neck of the animal are merely anecdotal. This does not happen.

Lions do not always make their kills cleanly. If a lioness

for example takes down a small prey animal and does so badly,

the distress calls of the prey will alert all other predators within the immediate area of

several miles. If the killer feels that it is not the dominant

predator within the area it will begin to eat the prey without killing it. It does this to ensure

that it at least gets something to eat for its efforts before

being chased off by another predator. Due to this phenomenon, there are many

reports of prey literally being eaten alive for up to 10

minutes before being killed.

When feeding, lions gorge themselves to absolute capacity. An adult male may eat up to 30 Kg (66 lbs.)

of meat in one meal, and then may not eat for four days. They gorge so much that they can't even lie down comfortably. An adult male probably eats the equivalent of 10 adult Zebra per year, which works out to three to four tons of meat.



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This awesome technique of bringing down prey and killing it protects the lion from the horns and hooves of the struggling victim, and few get a chance to defend themselves before being overpowered. However there have been a few records of

the larger ungulates killing lion that mis-timed a lunge or lost their balance and ended up impaled on the horns of Kudu and Gemsbok. Some unfortunate others

have had their jaws broken by kicks of zebra, giraffe and wildebeest.

Some lion have been inadvertently killed by Porcupine quills in their faces, mouths or paws that became septic wounds, also received when attempting to catch and eat one. One of the most of bizarre of cases has a Honey Badger killing a lion.

This occurred in the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. A lion caught one of these very ferocious animals by its hind quarters. The little Honey Badger promptly turned

around and literally ripped the lion’s throat out, while it later recovered fully from its own wounds.



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Social Behaviour One characteristic of lions that make them atypical of cats is their gregariousness

and sociability. Lions are most often seen in prides of between two and forty animals, although 5 - 13 is the norm. As with many mammals, lion prides are

matriarchal, although subservient to resident adult males. There are many advantages to communal living and the pride members benefit in several ways.

Firstly, there is greater care of cubs, and an adult female is always in attendance with them. More members, means greater hunting success, especially when they

participate in a co-operative manner, and all members may feed off the kill if it is large enough. This is particularly important for cubs or adults that are injured or old and cannot hunt for themselves. Even with these advantages, there are still many

solitary nomadic lions.



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Territory

Territories of lion prides’ range from 20 to 400 Km2, (8 – 150 square miles)

depending on prey density. However, only the part of the range that the pride is occupying at any one time is defended against intruders.

Male lions will keep other males out and females keeping other females out. Adult females within the same pride are invariably related, descended from females

that have lived from generation to generation in the same range. There is a phenomenon known as female capacity within each pride. If female numbers fall

below this capacity, and there are no female offspring, sub-adult immigrants may be permitted to join. Conversely if the capacity is filled, female cubs have to emigrate as two year olds.

Leadership of a pride by one or a coalition of two to three males lasts only two

to four years. This is when the males are between five and nine years old, and are the biggest and fittest they become. When these males are usurped, the first act of the new dominant male is to kill any cubs under a year old. Older juveniles

may survive if they leave the pride with their mother.



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Reproduction

Breeding is non - seasonal, but synchronised within prides. During oestrus, which

lasts for four days, couples couple at a rate of 2.2 times an hour for roughly 21 seconds at a time. One male was in fact recorded as having copulated 157 times in

55 hours with three different females. A typical litter of three cubs are born after a three-and-a-half-month gestation.

Parental care is augmented by communal pride care, and females suckle one another’s cubs. Even with very good parental care, less than half the cubs born

will reach the yearling stage. It has been estimated that for each cub that does, lions have copulated at least 3000 times. Cubs can fend for themselves at around 16 months.



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Man-Eaters

One last point is the issue

of man eaters. Once lion have killed and eaten

humans, they quickly develop a taste for us. We are far easier to hunt

and catch and are far tenderer, without tough

skin or hair. Thus, lions that have eaten humans generally must be

destroyed. Lions do not account for a great

number of deaths of people on an annual basis. The rare incidences of lion

attack are reported from the Kruger National

Park. These cases entail illegal aliens attempting to cross the Park at night, when they attempt to get into South Africa from Mozambique. Lions found killing these people are themselves summarily destroyed.

There is currently an over - abundance of lion in the Sabi Sands Reserve, and

visitors are almost guaranteed of seeing them.

Under natural conditions, their potential longevity is 10 - 12 years, half of that of captive lion.

Documents

Lion€¦ · from the animal, and pulls it down backwards and sideways. Once the animal is down, the lion then lunges for its throat or nose’ applies a killing strangulation hold,