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All About Lions for Children: Animal Safari Videos for Kids - FreeSchool

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Lions!  The King of the Jungle!  All About Lions for Kids w/ The Wild Adventure Girls!

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Lion Family | Where Are You Extreme Camouflage Hide and Seek For Kids | Cartoon for Kids

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Day In The Life Of A Lion Pride | Little Big Cat | BBC Earth Kids

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Get ready to roar with our 10 cool lion facts!

Lion facts

1. Lions usually live in groups of 10 or 15 animals called prides.

2. An adult male's roar can be heard up to 8km away.

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3. A female lion needs 5kg of meat a day. A male needs 7kg or more a day.

4. The name for a baby lion is a cub, whelp or lionet.

5. Lions go on the hunt for food mostly from dusk till dawn. Female lions do 85-90% of the prides hunting, whilst the male lions patrol the territory and protect the pride.

Did you know we have a FREE downloadable Lion primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

6. In the wild, lions live for an average of 12 years and up to 16 years. They live up to 25 years in captivity.

7. Often known as the 'king of the jungle', most lions actually live in the savannah or grasslands. Just one population of wild forest-dwelling lions remains, in Gir Forest National Park, India.

8. Female lions reach two-thirds of their adult size by the time they are two years old.

9. Lions run at a speed of up to 81kmph.

10. Lions hunt large animals such as zebra and wildebeest.

WORDS: ELLEN MORGAN.
PICTURES: GETTY IMAGES UK

What did you make of our lion facts? Roarsome, right? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

Images ⓒ Getty Images: Lion profile, (103361189)

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10 roarsome lion facts! | National Geographic Kids

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Here at National Geographic Kids we love fierce felines! Check out our 10 roarsome lion facts and learn all about these big cats...

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Fun Lion Facts for Kids - Interesting Facts about Lions, Pride, Mane, Lioness

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Lion is regarded as the king of the jungle as it lies at the top of the food chain. It is a big, powerful, ferocious, and expert hunter. We have gathered a complete set of Lion Facts for Kids that will help kids in learning all about lions. You are going to learn about its scientific classification, size, weight, physical features, speed, strength, diet, habitat, population, life cycle, its cubs, different species, extinct lions, and many interesting facts about the lion.

Lion is muscular, powerful and the second-largest cat after Tiger in the world.

It inhabits savannas and grasslands and usually lives in groups called pride.

It is an alpha predator (also called top predator), which means it has no predators naturally to hunt it down and exists at the top position of the food chain.

It is also a keystone predator, which means it has a larger influence on its environment than its abundance. It plays a key role in maintaining the population of other animals in an ecological community.

Lion is called "king of the jungle" and is one of the animals that are most extensively portrayed in national flags, paintings, and sculptures.

In human traditions, the lion is one of the most recognized animal symbols.

Scientific Name of Lion

Animals of this family are called felids or felines, characterized by muscular and slender bodies, retractable claws and powerful flexible forelimbs, specially transformed cranium and dental system for a vigorous bite, and specific coat patterns for a disguise that often have spots or strips.

Members of this family are carnivores, which means they survive on the nutrients found only in the flesh of animals.

Sometimes, members of this family are also called Hyper-carnivores because meat makes more than 70% part of their diet.

Lion Characteristics - Special Features of Lion

How Big is a Lion - Lion Size

The body length of an adult lion ranges from:

Male Lion - 5 feet 7 inches to 9 feet 9 inches (170 to 298 cm).

Female Lioness - 4 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches (140 to 175 cm).

The tail length of an adult lion ranges from:

Male Lion - 2 feet 11 inches to 3 feet 5 inches (90 to 105 cm).

Female Lioness - 2 feet 4 inches to 3 feet 3 inches (70 to 100 cm).

Lions usually grow bigger in captivity than in the wild.

Male lions grow slightly bigger than females with 170 to 298 cm of body length and a weight of 150 to 250 kg.

Females attain a body length of 140 to 175 cm and a weight of 120 to 182 kg.

The biggest lion ever recorded was about 11.8 feet long with a weight of 408 kg.

Hercules Liger (offspring of a male lion and a female tiger) is 332 cm long, 124 cm (49 inches) high, weighs 418 kg (922 lb) and is the world's biggest living cat mentioned in the 2014 Guinness Book of World Records.

How Much Does A Lion Weigh - Lion Weight

The average lion weighs from:

Male Lion Weight - 330 to 550 pounds (150-250 kg)

Female Lion Weight- 265 to 401 pounds (120-182 kg)

The South African lion weighs from:

Male Lion Weight - 413-426 pounds (187-193 kg)

Female Lion Weight- 274-308 pounds (124-139 kg)

The East African lion weighs from:

Male Lion Weight- 386 pounds (175 kg)

Female Lion Weight - 163 pounds (119 kg)

The Indian lion weighs from:

Male Lion Weight- 350-420 pounds (160-190 kg)

Female Lion Weight- 240-260 pounds (110-120 kg)

The body length of male lions without tails ranges between 1.7 to 2.98 meters (5 feet 7 inches to 9 feet 9 inches).

Female lions have body lengths between 1.4 to 1.75 meters (4 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches).

The tail length of an adult lion ranges from:

Male Lion - 2 feet 11 inches to 3 feet 5 inches (90 to 105 cm).

Female Lioness - 2 feet 4 inches to 3 feet 3 inches (70 to 100 cm).

How Fast is a Lion - How Fast Does a Lion Run

The estimated maximum and fastest speed of a lion in short bursts is 80 km/hr or 50 miles/hour.

Lions can run at the speed of 80 km/h or 50 mph for short distances.

They can jump up to about 36 feet while running faster.

Due to the lack of stamina, lions can not keep running at top speed for long distances.

How Long Do Lions Live - Lions Lifespan

The lifespan of lions depends on whether they live in the wild or captivity.

They usually live longer in captivity than in the wild due to the regular availability of food, proper health care, and protection from natural threats and diseases.

How Long Do Lions Live in the Wilds

In the wild, the usual lifespan of lions is 10 to 14 years.

The maximum lifespan of lions recorded in the wild is up to 18 years, however, very few of them reach this age.

How Long Do Lions Live in Captivity

The life expectancy of lions in the wild is 10 to 14 years.

In captivity, they live for 20 to 25 years.

What do Lions Eat - Lions Diet - Lion Diet Facts

Lions are strictly carnivores in nature and consume meat or flesh of other animals as food.

An adult male lion needs about 15 pounds (7 kg) of meat per day, while the amount needed for a female lion is about 11 pounds (5 kg).

An adult male lion can eat up to 66 pounds (30 kg) of meat at a time.

What Animals Do Lions Eat - Lions Prey

Lions prey upon zebras, antelopes, giraffes, other large ungulates (hoofed mammals), and crocodiles.

They also hunt young elephants, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, and ignore the fully grown ones.

Sometimes, they also eat mice, turtles, lizards, birds, and hares.

What do African Lions Eat - African Lion Diet

African lions like to hunt animals of weight between 240-1,210 pounds (190-550 kg).

They prefer to hunt animals like plain zebra, giraffe, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, and African buffalo.

They usually avoid very small animals like vervet monkey, dik-dik, hare, and also avoid very large animals like completely developed adult hippopotamus, rhinoceroses, and elephants.

The African lions also like to prey on some animals species below the range of the preferred weight if available in abundance, such as common warthog and Thomson's gazelle.

In many regions, very few animal species make up to 75% part of lions' diet.

For example, giraffes and Cape buffalo are the most common animals consumed by lions in Kruger National Park and Manyara Park, respectively.

What do Lions Like To Eat

Lions are carnivores and like to eat the flesh of other animals.

Lions usually eat their prey at the place of killing, however, sometimes they pull their larger kills into a covered place.

If they are unable to eat all their prey at one time, they wait for a few hours and then continue eating.

In hot seasons, the whole pride often goes back to shadow after hunting and leaves one or two male lions to guard the kill.

Lions always defend their dead prey from scavengers like hyenas and vultures.

Read this to know more about: What do lions eat

How Do Lions Prey and Eat

Due to the lack of stamina, lions use short distances to attack their prey.

They attack very powerfully and try to catch the prey with a quick and final jump.

Lions typically hunt at night and a single lion alone can bring down a prey double its size.

Young lions do not take part in hunting and only show stalking behavior for the first three months of their lives.

After the age of one year, they start hunting and at the age of two, they become trained and effective hunters.

Female lions (lionesses) hunt cooperatively and do most of the hunting in pride. Male lions like to hunt alone and usually do not take part in group hunting.

All the members of the pride are fed well by the large kills, however, cubs are mostly suffering in cases of scarce food.

Like other members of the family Felidae, lions have dental formula 3.1.3.1 / 3.1.2.1 and have a total of 30 teeth.

They have canine teeth of exceptional size, which they use for a strong bite and killing the prey.

Their lower molar and upper third premolar teeth are called teeth, Carnassial specially adapted for cutting and tearing and work like two scissors.

Lions do not chew food and swallow it directly after chopping.

Where Do Lions Live - Where Lion Lives - Lion Habitat

Lions prefer to live in savannas, open woodlands, scrubs, and grasslands.

The home area of a lion pride range from 13 to 100 square miles.

They are absent in rainforests and other dense forests, maybe due to the presence of other big cats in such habitats as leopards and tigers.

Where Are Lions Located - What Countries Do Lions Live In

In Africa, the well-known habitats of lions are:

Serengeti National Park in the eastern African country; Tanzania

Etosha National Park in the south-western African country; Namibia

Kruger National Park of South Africa

Habitat Of Lion in India

Gir Forest National Park and the surrounding areas in Gujarat state are the only habitats of lions in India as well as in entire Asia.

What Is Female Lion Called

What Is A Male Lion Called

What is a baby lion called?

What does a baby lion look like

The life cycle of a lion - Lion Reproduction

How Many Cubs Do Lions Have

A female lion usually gives birth to a litter of 1 to 4 cubs at a time.

Their fossils revealed that they were about 25% bigger than the present-day African lions.

Most of their fossils have been discovered from the La Brea Tar Pit in urban Los Angeles.

The Cougar, which is also known as the Panther, Puma, Catamount, or Mountain lion, is sometimes also known as the American lion.

However, the Cougar is a different species than the lion.

What Is A Group Of Lions Called

How Many Male Lions Are In A Pride

How Do Lions Protect Themselves - How Do Lions Survive

Lion Species - Types Of Lions

African Lion - African Lions Names

Out of all the subspecies of lions, only the Panthera leo persica is found in Asia (India).

All the other subspecies are found in Africa due to which they are called the African lions. Their names are;

The South African lion is a subspecies that belongs to panthera leo melanochaita.

It is found in Southern countries of continent Africa, like South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Botswana, Swaziland, and Malawi.

South African lions have a black mane and are considered the largest of all the living subspecies of African lions.

Its population is critically endangered.

They are well-known for a wide variety of mane.

Asiatic lion belongs to Panthera leo leo.

They are listed on the IUCN Red List as Endangered.

Nowadays, they are only found in the Gujarat state of India, where they are confined to the Gir Forest National Park and its surrounding areas.

The existing population of Asiatic lions in the wild is estimated as about 650 individuals.

Generally, Asiatic lions have a less developed mane than African lions.

The lion's subspecies that existed during the prehistoric era which are extinct now, include the following:

Panthera leo fossilis - F ragments of their bones have been discovered in Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. They existed between 680,000 and 600,000 years ago.

Panthera spelaea - Existed about 14,900 to 11,900 years ago. Their bone fragments have been discovered in North Asia, Europe, Alaska, and Canada.

Panthera leo atrox or Panthera atrox - Existed about 10,000 years ago in the Pleistocene epoch (Ice Age) in the Americas.

White lions have white coat color due to a less severe mutation of a gene that causes albinism in case of severe mutation.

However, white lions are not albinos.

Genetically, they are like the Southern African lions ( Panthera leo melanochaita ).

According to the Global White Lion Protection Trust (GWLPT), they are completely normal lions and their coloration does not cause any problem to their survival.

In the wild, white lions are found in South Africa mainly in the Timbavati region where they have special cultural importance to the native communities.

In captivity, there are about 300 white lions present in the zoos of Eurasia, the Americas, and New Zealand.

Why Are Lions Endangered

Lions are endangered due to several reasons, including:

Poaching - the illegal hunting of lions for their bones, which are used in traditional medicines as well as inexpensive wines.

Killing by humans for Trophy Hunting and Big-game Hunting

Loss of habitat

Conflict with humans

Food and prey scarcity

Natural threats and diseases

What are lion's predators?

Do Lions Live In The Jungle

No, lions do not live in the jungles and dense forests.

Do Lions Live In The Forest

No, generally lions don't live in forests.

However, there exists a small population of Asiatic lions in the Gir Forest National Park.

Interesting Facts About Lions

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Best Lion Facts for Kids. Learn all about lions, its scientific classification, its size, weight, physical features, speed, strength, diet, habitat, population, life cycle, its cubs, different species, extinct lions and many interesting facts about the lion.

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Lion prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals. In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together. In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are related-mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters.

Many of the females in the pride give birth at about the same time. A cub may 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 kilometers). 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.

Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, lions are considered one of the "big cats." Tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping.

Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you're most like with our personality quiz.

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For all of their roaring, growling, and ferociousness, lions are family animals and truly social in their own communities. They usually live in groups of 15 or more animals called prides. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals.

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The lion is the second largest member of the cat family after the tiger. Lions live in parts of Africa and India. Their loud roar is among the most terrifying sounds of the...

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The lion ( Panthera leo) is a large mammal of the (cat) family. Some large males weigh over 250 kg (550 lb). Today, wild lions live in sub- Saharan Africa and in Asia. Lions are adapted for life in grasslands and mixed areas with trees and grass. The relatively small females are fast runners over short distances, and coordinate their hunting of herd animals.

In ancient times, lions roamed nearly every continent. Lions have disappeared from North Africa and southwest Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans.

The lion is now a vulnerable species. There was a decline in its African range of 30-50% over two decades in the second half of the 20th century. Habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes of concern. There are only a quarter the number of lions in Africa as there were just 40 years ago.

Lions are often called the "king of the beasts". They are used as symbols representing courage. They appear in heraldry more often than any other animal. They are an icon of courage and royalty.

Lions live for 10 to 14 years when they are in the wild. When they are captured, they can live longer than 20 years. In the wild, males do not usually live longer than 10 years. This is because wounds from fighting with other males make their lives shorter.

Despite the nickname King of the jungle, lions do not live in the jungle. They usually live in savanna and grassland. These areas do have bushes and trees, but lions are mainly adapted to catch prey on grasslands.

Appearance

The lion's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species. The mane starts growing when lions are about a year old. Mane colour varies, and darkens with age. Research results indicate that environmental factors such as average ambient temperature influence the mane's colour and size. Mane length apparently signals fighting success in male-male relationships. Darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest months of the year.

The presence, absence, colour, and size of the mane is associated with genetic precondition, maturity, climate, and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is the darker and fuller the mane, the healthier the lion. In the Serengeti National Park, female lions favour males as mates with dense, dark manes. For some lions the mane runs along the belly. When a male lion gets old, its mane may fall off. The main purpose of the mane is thought to protect the lion's neck and throat in territorial fights with rivals. There is no other big cat with such a dramatic difference in appearance between males and females.

Lions have tawny, or yellowish brown, fur. They grow to a length of about 10 feet (3 metres) and stand about 4 feet (1.2 metres) tall. Male lions are larger than the lionesses (females), weighing as much as five men or about 550 pounds (250 kilograms). The more slender lioness usually weighs about as much as 400 pounds (180 kilograms).

Both lions and lionesses have tufts on the end of their tails, something no other cat has. If you could touch a male lion's tail, you would feel a sharp bone tucked into the tail tuft.

The white lion is a rare morph with a genetic condition called leucism, which is caused by a double recessive allele. It is not albino, but has normal pigmentation in eyes and skin. White lion individuals have been occasionally encountered only in and around Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion gene pool. Nevertheless, 17 births have been recorded in five different prides between 2007 and 2015.

The largest lion on record was almost 11.8 feet long and weighed nearly 900 pounds.

Head-to-body length

140-175 cm (4 ft 7 in - 5 ft 9 in)

170-298 cm (5 ft 7 in - 9 ft 9 in)

Tail length

70-100 cm (2 ft 4 in - 3 ft 3 in)

90-105 cm (2 ft 11 in - 3 ft 5 in)

Weight

120-182 kg (265-401 lb),
124.2-139.8 kg (274-308 lb) in Southern Africa,
119.5 kg (263 lb) in East Africa,
110-120 kg (240-260 lb) in India

150-250 kg (330-550 lb),
187.5-193.3 kg (413-426 lb) in Southern Africa,
174.9 kg (386 lb) in East Africa,

160-190 kg (350-420 lb) in India

Compared to other cats, lions are social. A group of lions is called a pride. In a pride of lions, there are related females, their young, and one or two adult males. Groups of female lions often hunt together. Lions are the only big cats that live in large groups. Ten to forty lions may live in a pride. Each pride has a home area that is called its territory. Lions do not allow other carnivores (meat-eating animals) to hunt in their territory. A territory can be as large as 260 square kilometres (100 square miles).

The lions roar is distinct to each individual, and is used for territorial making, and warning off other lions in separate prides (or lone individuals). This however, is usually carried out by competing males. Also, they have the loudest roar of any cat, which can be heard for up to five miles.

Lions are not built for speed like cheetahs, but go in for co-operative pack hunting. This is unusual in cats. The females usually do the hunting for the pride. However the males can sometimes help if needed, to take down large animals. It also has long retractable claws which act like grappling hooks, to keep hold of the prey. Even though a lion is good at killing prey for food, they are not among the most dangerous animals for humans.

Lions are carnivores and scavengers. Carrion makes up more than 50% of their diet. Lions scavenge animals either dead from natural causes (disease) or killed by other predators. They keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, because this means there is a dead or injured animal close by.

Lions eat large prey, such as gazelles, antelopes, zebras, wildebeests, giraffes, and buffalo. They have been known to take down even elephants, but then only with all of the adults of the pride participating in the kill. Even elephants fear hungry lions. When food becomes scarce, lions will hunt smaller prey or sometimes eat the kills of other animals. Lions can eat up to 69 kg of meat a day.

A lion can run as fast as 50 mph for short distances and can leap a distance of more than 30 feet, though most prey animals can run much faster than the average lion. Therefore, lions hunt in fairly well organized groups and stalk, or sneak up on, their prey. They may try to surround them first, then make a swift, sudden charge from the tall grass. A lion's eyesight is five times better than a human's eyesight, and it can hear prey that is more than a mile away.

The grass where lions live is not short and green but grows very tall and is a light brownish color most of the time. The lions' fur is the same color as this grass, making it difficult for other animals to see them. Coloring that helps to hide an animal or thing is called "camouflage".

Lions might spend hours stalking prey but the actual kill is made in just minutes. After a kill is made, the females let out low roars. This tells the pride to join them for a meal. Adult males eat first, followed by females, and then cubs. It may take up to 4 hours for a pride of lions to finish eating. Lions rarely eat an entire kill, hyenas and vultures finish the rest. After eating, a thirsty lion may drink for as long as 20 minutes.

To avoid the dangerous heat of the mid-day sun, lions usually hunt at night when the dim light helps to keep them hidden from their prey. Lions have very good night vision so the darkness does not pose a problem for them. Animals that are active at night like lions are called nocturnal creatures.

A lioness is ready to have young when she is 2-3 years old. Baby lions are called cubs. Cubs are born after 3 1/2 months. The cubs are born blind; their eyes do not open until they are about a week old, and cannot see well until they are about two weeks old. Lions do not have a den (home) where they would live for a long time. The lioness conceals the cubs in thick bush, gullies or rocky outcrops. If the hiding place has been seen by other predators, then the lioness will move the cubs to a new hiding place. The cubs will be introduced to the pride at about 6 weeks old.

The cubs are very vulnerable when the lioness goes out to hunt and needs to leave the cubs behind. Also, when a new male takes over a pride from another male, he usually kills all of the cubs. The cubs' mothers will then mate with the new pride male, which means that the first batch of new cubs will be his offspring. A litter of 2-6, usually 2-3, cubs are born and most of the time only 1-2 cubs survive until introduced to the pride where they are protected by the whole pride.

In zoos lions have been known to breed with tigers. If the parents are a male lion and a female tiger, it is called a liger. A tigon comes from a male tiger and a female lion.

Lions in heraldry

Lions appear in heraldry more often than any other animal. They traditionally symbolise courage, valour and royalty. They may appear as a charge on the shield or as a crest in various ways, one reason why lions are shown in so many different ways is because when heraldry developed, a lot of people wanted a lion on their coat of arms, but no two coats of arms can be the same.

Images for kids

In Spanish: Panthera leo para niños