1 The King of Beasts

Who is the “King of Beasts”? We all know the answer. It is the lion. A male lion weighs from 350 to 400 pounds. A few weigh up to 500 pounds. Most males are about nine feet long. Thats from tip of nose to tip of tail. Most are about three- and-a-half feet tall. That is at the shoulders. Females are smaller. They weigh 250 to 300 pounds. They are about eight feet long. Lions live 20 to 25 years in a zoo. How long in the jungle? No one knows.

Lions are powerful. The power is in the shoulders and forelegs. Each paw has long, sharp claws. These claws hook into prey. The lion's weight drags down the prey. Then the four long ‘canine teeth go to work. The teeth fasten onto the throat. The lion has no chewing type teeth. So it uses its canine teeth. They rip the flesh into chunks. Then the chunks are swallowed whole.

Lions live in groups. The groups are called prides. A pride will have one to three adult males, several females, and cubs. Life within a pride is peaceful. Lions usually spend about 20 hours a day sleeping or resting. After a big meal, they may rest for 24 hours.

Lions prefer large prey. They hunt zebra, antelope; and buffale, All these animals can run faster than the lion. So how does the lion catch them? Answer: by surprise. The lion greeps as close as possible first. Then it jumps. Lions often hunt at night. At night their eyes can see in the dark. Also, they can creep up closer to surprise their prey. A killed animal is dragged to a shady spot. (One lion can drag a 600 pound zebra. It would take six men to do the same.) Then the whole pride eats together. A male can eat about 75 pounds of meat in one meal. What a meal!