African lions (Panthera leo) have been admired throughout history as symbols of courage and strength. These iconic animals have powerful bodies-in the cat family, they’re second in size only to tigers-and lion roars that can be heard from five miles away. Throughout history, lions have been admired as a symbol of power, strength, and courage.
A male lion in its natural savanna habitat. Image: Wikimedia Commons
An adult lion’s coat is yellow-gold, and juveniles have some light spots that disappear with age. Only male lions typically boast manes, the impressive fringe of long hair that encircles their heads.
Historical and Current Range
Previously, lions roamed throughout all of Africa and parts of Asia and Europe. Lions once ranged across sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa, through southwest Asia, west into Europe, and east into India. However, this mighty species is now found only in fragments of sub-Saharan Africa, along with a critically endangered subpopulation in West Africa and a small population of Asiatic lions in India’s Gir National Park. Asiatic lions are restricted to one small population living in Gir Forest National Park in India. Today, lions inhabit less than 15% of their historic range.
Three of the five largest lion populations can be found in Tanzania.
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Habitat Preferences
The vast majority of lions live south of the Sahara. The lion prefers grassy plains and savannahs, scrub bordering rivers, and open woodlands with bushes. Since lions are extremely adaptable big cats, they can survive in a wide variety of habitats, including dry forests, thick bush, floodplains, and semi-arid desert areas. African lions prefer savanna and other grasslands that provide good cover while stalking a meal. However, they typically prefer open savannas where it is easier to stalk their prey. It rarely enters closed forests.
Key habitat requirements include:
- Prey Availability: Lions can consume a great variety of prey species; however, their size and social habits are particularly well adapted to predation on larger herbivores, such as buffalo, wildebeest, giraffe, and zebra.
- Cover: Lions also need cover, in the form of long grass, bushes, or trees, to be able to stalk prey and capture it.
- Water: Lions also require water; while they do not need to drink every day, obtaining moisture they from prey, they do require water relatively regularly.
- Shade: Lions sleep a lot during the day!
On Mount Elgon, the lion has been recorded up to an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) and close to the snow line on Mount Kenya. Savannahs with an annual rainfall of 300 to 1,500 mm (12 to 59 in) make up the majority of lion habitat in Africa, estimated at 3,390,821 km2 at most, but remnant populations are also present in tropical moist forests in West Africa and montane forests in East Africa.
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Social Structure and Hunting
Compared to other big cat species, lions are the most sociable. Lions are often called the most social of all cats, and for good reason. They live in groups called prides, which can consist of anywhere from two to 30 members, including three or four males, a dozen or more females, and their offspring. It means they live in groups, called prides, and rely upon each other to survive.
Lionesses remain with the same pride for their entire lives. Most prides are ruled by a single dominant male, but some larger prides may have 2 or 3 dominant males at a time. Male lions, on the other hand, leave after maturing to compete for control of another pride. Leading males defend their territory by marking it with urine and roaring to scare off intruders. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. A lion’s roar can be heard from five miles away and is also a show of power between males.
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Within their pride, female lions act as the primary hunters and work in teams to prey on zebras, wildebeests, antelope, and other large herbivores. Lions sleep up to 20 hours a day, so most of their hunting is done at night or early in the morning. This is because their eyes easily adapt to the dark, and it is easier to sneak up on prey at night. Along with hunting for the pride, female lions are responsible for raising their offspring. They typically give birth to a litter every two years, which consists of one to four cubs.
A lion pride, showcasing the social structure of these animals. Image: Britannica
Threats to Survival
The IUCN estimates that between 23,000 to 39,000 lions remain in the wild. Lions are apex predators of the African savanna. However, other data from recent years suggests that that number may be closer to 20,000, as three-quarters of their population is in decline. Today, there are only half as many African lions than there were 25 years ago.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that fewer than 25,000 lions remain in Africa, which is why the organization classifies them as vulnerable to extinction. Habitat loss, prey depletion, and conflict with humans represent the greatest threats to lions. African lions face a variety of threats-most of which can be attributed to humans.
Major threats include:
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- Habitat Loss: Lions ’ ranges have been dramatically reduced due to human land use and climate change. Today they inhabit only 8% of their former range.
- Human-Wildlife Conflict: This has left humans and lions to compete for space and resources. When their food source becomes depleted, lions frequently disperse over large ranges in search of prey, sometimes leaving protected areas.
- Poaching and Illegal Wildlife Trade: A recent study led by Panthera suggests that the targeted poaching of lions for their skin, teeth, claws, and bones accounts for 35% of known human-related lion killings.
Fearing that lions will prey on their livestock, which can be a significant financial blow, ranchers may kill the animals both in retaliation and as a preventative measure, sometimes using pesticides as poison. Poachers target the species, too, as their bones and other body parts are valuable in the illegal wildlife trade.
Further fueling this conflict between lions and humans is the loss of prey across the species’ range. African lions prey on large herbivores, a population that’s being hunted for an increasingly commercial bushmeat trade. The IUCN estimates these populations have declined by as much as 52 percent in East Africa and 85 percent in West Africa. With less food available in the wild, lions may be more likely to turn to hunting domesticated animals like livestock.
Mismanaged hunting in the past has caused lions to disappear from some habitats, while hunters and those involved in the industry say hunting fees generate money for lion conservation. National Geographic Explorer Craig Packer, however, has said the amount generated by hunting is so "underwhelming…[that] it’s no wonder that despite years of lion hunting being allowed in [some] countries, the lion population has plummeted."
Conservation Efforts
Helping humans learn how to live with lions is key to ensuring their survival. Conservation organizations are working to change attitudes toward lions through compensation initiatives. Some of these models offer communities financial rewards when their local lion populations rise, while others pay farmers to replace their livestock that have been killed by lions.
Other conservationists have focused on creating protected areas for lions. In Botswana’s Selinda area, only a single lioness and her cub lived there when filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert, both National Geographic Explorers, turned the land into a protected reserve and photographic tourism camp.
In KAZA, local partners are helping communities build more effective kraals, including reinforcing traditional kraals to make them stronger and prevent livestock from breaking out when a carnivore is nearby. Some partners employ local community members to serve as community guardians, helping to monitor carnivore and lion movement around villages and respond to incidents of human-wildlife conflict.
By placing satellite collars on large carnivores, including lions, our partners can collect important information regarding lion movement and dispersal across the landscape, which helps identify potential corridors. Identifying lion corridors is vital to the protection of these species. Collaring data can also help reduce human-wildlife conflicts by informing communities where to avoid infrastructure, farming, and grazing livestock to stay clear of active lion corridors.
Without top carnivores like lions, herbivore populations will increase unchecked. In sub-Saharan African countries, lions help to generate over 200 million USD per year through wildlife tourism as people gather to see the “king of the jungle” in their natural habitat.
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Common Name | African Lion |
| Scientific Name | Panthera leo |
| Type | Mammal |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Group Name | Pride |
| Size | Head and body, 4.5 to 6.5 feet; tail, 26.25 to 39.5 inches |
| Weight | 265 to 420 pounds |
| IUCN Red List Status | Vulnerable |
| Current Population Trend | Decreasing |
