The King of the Jungle

Lion's have many unique and amazing characteristics. Their rarity, their strength, and the way of their life cycle make them stand out as a very exclusive species.

The lion is the largest of the African carnivores, and the biggest feline in the cat family. It is a light, sandy brown color and the male lions have hair around their necks, known as a mane. The mane of a lion can range from black, to light brown. The mane makes it very easy to identify a male lioness from a male lion, for females don't have manes, but the larger size of the male lion's to the female lionesses also makes it easy to identify the males from the females. Full grown male lions can range from 9 to 10 feet long, that's included with a 3 foot tale, and a weight range of 400 to 500 pounds. An adult lioness can be between 4 to 5 feet long, be about 3 feet tall, and weigh between 265 to 395 pounds. That is about have the size of a male lion!

Lionesses live longer then male lions. The Serengeti lioness can live to the age of 18, whereas for a male lion can typically live to be about the age of 12! A pride is a group of lions, generally consisting about 15 lions, but can lead up to be about 30 or even more lions. In between the ages of two and four, male lion’s leave their pride. Some male cubs that are born together will stay together throughout their lives. Though, most male coalitions are not related by blood. Especially since males can come together with other independent males during their lone years. Nearly 2/3 of all male lion pairs and almost half of all trios contain unrelated partners. Coalitions may contain as many as nine males, and within the coalition, it is every male for himself. For the male lions that have the larger coalition, they a...

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...way with staying that long, but sometimes they are forced out as early as 13-20 months. Females remain with their natal pride most of the time, although some will disperse and form new prides. While male lions are physically capable of reproducing at 30 months and females at 24 months, they do not generally successfully reproduce until pride membership has been firmly established. In captivity, lions can live 25-30 years.

Lion’s are very amazing creatures, as well as interesting. They have very unique life styles, habits, and ways of life.

Works Cited

http://www.lionlamb.us/lion/lionfact.html

http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bnfl/908/id24.htm

http://www.lionking.org/~sichi/lion.htm

http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/lion-information.html

http://www.barbarylion.com/LionInfo.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_big_do_male_lions_and_female_get