List of Lion Facts

Posted in Science

  • A male lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away.
  • The Term "King of the Beast" is misleading because a lion will run from many creatures, including elephants and rhinoceros.
  • A group of Lions is called a "Pride"
  • A female Lion is called a "Lioness"
  • The hunting grounds for a pride of lions can range from 8 to 150 square miles.
  • The largest lion on record was almost 11 feet long and weighed nearly 700 pounds.
  • A lion's average life span is 13 years but a lion named "Nero" once lived to the ripe old age of 29 in a West German zoo.
  • Lions rarely eat an entire kill. Hyenas and vultures finish the rest.
  • Lionesses hunt in groups. While one group of lions drives the prey to a certain area, another group will wait to ambush the approaching animals.
  • Other lionesses in a pride will "baby-sit" a mother's cubs while she goes off to hunt.
  • A lioness can run as fast as 35 mph for short distances and can leap more that 30 feet.
  • There are only one fourth the number of lions in Africa as there were just 40 years ago.
  • A lion's eyesight is five times better than a human's, and it can hear prey that is more then a mile away.
  • Using their keen sense of smell, lions can tell if prey is nearby and even how long ago it was in the area.
  • It may take up to 4 hours for a pride of lions to finish eating.
  • A male lion eats first, even though the females actually catch the prey.
  • After eating, a thirsty lion may drink for as long as 20 minutes.
  • A captive lion eats about 15 pounds of meat each day, but a wild lion usually eats only twice a week.
  • Lions were once thought to magical creatures and were worshipped as gods.
  • Lions are the most social of all the cats, living in groups called "prides." There can be up to 40 members in a pride with over half of them being cubs and young adults.
  • Females will often stay with the pride their entire life, while young males are driven out.