Southern Lion

Panthera leo melanochaita

Southern Lion

“ Do not try to fight a lion if you are not one yourself. ”

– African proverb

Scientific Taxonomy & Character Information

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Clade: Synapsida

Class: Mammalia

Order: Feliforma

Family: Felidae

Subfamily: Pantherinae

Genius: Panthera

Species: Panthera leo

Subspecies: Panthera leo melanochaita

Descendant: Lion

Named by: Charles Hamilton Smith

Year Published: 1842

Size: 90 m tall in height; 2.47–2.84 m (8 ft 1 in – 9 ft 4 in) in length; 150–225 kg (331–496 lb) in weight

Lifespan: 8 to 16 years

Type: 

Title: 

Pantheon: Terran

Time Period: Holocene

Alignment: Neutral

Threat Level: ★★★★★

Diet: Carnivorous

Elements: Leaf, normal

Inflicts: Sundered, impaled, bleeding

Weaknesses: Fire, air, earth, ice

Casualties: ???

Based On: itself

Conservation Status: Vulnerable (VU) - IUCN Red List

African Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita), or known as Southern Lion, Southern African Lion, and East-Southern African Lion, are subspecies of lions in whole mainland Africa. Since the turn of the 21st century, lion populations in intensively managed protected areas in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe have increased, but declined in East African range countries.

Etymology

The English word lion is derived via Anglo-Norman liun, from Latin leōnem (nominative: leō), which in turn was a borrowing from Ancient Greek λέων léōn. The Hebrew word לָבִיא lavi may also be related.

Physical Appearance

One can quickly tell an Asiatic from an African lion by looking at its belly. Almost all African lions lack the longitudinal fold of skin that runs along the belly of Asiatic lions. African lions are larger than Asiatic lions. Adult males average between 330 and 500 pounds in weight, with most weighing around 410 pounds.


The largest African lion on record weighed over 800 pounds. Females typically weigh the same as their Asiatic cousins. The longest African lion measured almost 11 feet from nose to tail tip. Male African lions tend to have longer and fuller manes than their Asiatic cousins. A lion's mane is a signal of male condition. It allows other lions to assess the male's overall strength and fitness. A male with a long, dark mane is more intimidating to his rivals and more attractive to the opposite sex. African lions have relatively sparse elbow tufts and a shorter tail tuft than Asiatic lions.

Abilities

It was also cunning. The African lion would lure warriors or livestock to his den or pride by kidnapping others that he could use as bait for the pride. 

Ecology

The prey animals of the African savanna tend to be larger than those in the Gir Forest of Western India. African lions will frequently tackle prey weighing as much as 600 to 800 pounds, such as wildebeest and zebra, and will occasionally take down African buffalo, which weigh between 1,000 and 2,000 pounds. This requires cooperative hunting techniques, which may explain why African lions live in larger prides. Shared with Asiatic lions as one species. African lions live in scattered populations across sub-Saharan Africa. The lion prefers grassy plains and savannas, scrub bordering rivers and open woodlands with bushes. It rarely enters closed forests.

Behavior

Like Asiatic lions, African lions live in social units called prides. This behavior is unique among cats, as all other feline species are relatively solitary. In Africa, these prides include an average of four to six females, their cubs and one to four male lions. The faster, more agile females do the hunting while the larger male lions patrol and defend the pride's territory. The females in a pride usually give birth at the same time and raise their cubs together in a crèche, or nursery.

Distribution and Habitat

Outside sub-Saharan Africa, the Lion formerly ranged from Northern Africa through Southwest Asia (where it disappeared from most countries within the last 150 years), west into Europe, where it apparently became extinct almost 2,000 years ago, and east into India. Today, the only remainder of this once widespread northern population is a single isolated subpopulation in the 1,400 km² Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. Lions are extinct in North Africa, having perhaps survived in the High Atlas Mountains up to the 1940s.


Tamed

Alpha lion cannot be tamed when it is an adult stage. Only in cub one was notable exceptions. Can be tamed the abandoned kitten using any raw fish or milk.

Lore

Coming soon

Gallery

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Foreign Languages

Trivia