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The king marches up his rock. Shoulders high, pride flaring up, nothing can bring him down. He gets to the tip, Builds up his throat, Lifts his head and lets out a ferocious roar able to hear from miles. This is the noble roar of a lion but that stuff is really only in movies and cartoons. Lions are actually even more ferocious in real life. Lions are technically big cats. Lions are from the feline family. They are wild, smart, and relentless. They are a pact of royals that live a wild life in the safari wild lands. They are at the top of the food chain and all animals fear them (figuratively speaking).
Lions are big cats. The males have big fluffy manes while the females don’t. Both genders have are a brownish orange and/or vice-versa. Normal African lions can be from 4.5 to 6.5 ft tall. They can weigh from 265 lb to 420 lb (African lion,n.d.). Lions are mammals of the feline family. Lions are carnivores. They eat things like Cape Buffalo,Gemsbok,Wildebeest,Burchell’s Zebra,Giraffe, and Warthog (Hal Brindly,2017). In some cases the top male eats a cub so he can make sure the rest knows his dominance and so he can make sure there is no future competition. The females give birth to usually 3 to 4 cubs. They hunt at 11 months and stay with their mothers for about 2 years (Basic facts about lions,n.d.). After those years the females of the group find or assert a male to claim the dominance as long as he is not corrupt. The males just find those female groups and become the king. Lions are experts at hunting but it isn't the male that does the work. The females are expert huntresses and take down their prey with grace, most of the time. They are not afraid to get dirty with their kills. The male's job is to travel around his territory making sure no other pack is in it, and if so he will fight them to protect his home. Some males have a wanderlust to travel and to defend what belongs to him but most just want to get the job over with so he can go back to his lazy lifestyle. While the male is gone a new male can sneak in and take the male's pack or kill them all to fill his belly full of cubs. It's not the prettiest job but he does it to live. Another male can fight the head male in a fair match for the place of king for a more even job.
Lions populate the southern and eastern areas of Africa and the Sahara desert. Sadly, these are the only places left with lions. Lions used to fill most parts of Africa but because of reasons there are less. Lions even used to live in Greece and the middle east of India. The population of lions used to be very, very large but has drastically decreased. It started in the 1950’s when the population decreased and has continued to now. The very sad fact is that less than 21,000 lions remain in the world and it is more than likely that theses numbers will keep decreasing (Lion,n.d.)
The African Wildlife Foundation is helping to protect lions. They go around informing of the loss of these majestic creatures. They also help breed lions and make sure they are safe. They have a website that tells all about this process (Lion,n.d.). Hopefully they can help protect the lions and help open other people's eyes so they can want to help out with the protection process. These animals are the ferocious royal family of the Sahara. They are majestic felines that deserve to live and thrive in the future. Hopefully we can come together and protect these wonderful animals.
Basic facts about lions. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.defenders.org/lion/basic-facts
Hal Brindley. (2017, June 21). What do lions eat. Retrieved from https://www.travel4wildlife.com/what-do-lions-eat/
African lion. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/a/african-lion/
Lion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion
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