Lion
Panthera leo
A lion's roar is so powerful it can be heard from up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) away, used to signal territory and locate other pride members.
- Scientific name
- Panthera leo
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Mammalia › Carnivora › Felidae › Panthera
- IUCN Red List status
- Vulnerable
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Savannas, grasslands, open woodlands, and semi-arid desert regions.
- Diet
- Carnivorous; feeds primarily on large ungulates such as wildebeest, zebras, antelopes, and buffalo.
- Range
- Sub-Saharan Africa, Gir National Park (India)
- Size
- Length: 1.6 - 2.5 meters (head to tail); Weight: 120 - 250 kg (260 - 550 lbs).
- Lifespan
- 10-14 years in the wild, up to 20 years in captivity.
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict (retaliatory killings), prey depletion, and illegal wildlife trade.
- Safe to approach?
- Extremely dangerous. Never approach a lion on foot. Maintain a safe distance of at least 100 meters, ideally from inside a closed safari vehicle. If you encounter one on foot, do not run, as this triggers their predatory chase instinct. Stand your ground, make yourself look as large as possible, wave your arms, speak in a loud, firm voice, and back away slowly. In the highly unlikely event of an attack, fight back with any object available.
The lion ( Panthera leo ) is a species in the family Felidae and a member of the genus Panthera . It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996, as populations in African range countries declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes of concern. The...
Photo: datadan, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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