Can you believe it? We are at at Wild Fact #607 and we still haven’t discussed the King of the Jungle. I couldn’t believe it which is why I checked five times to make sure I wasn’t repeating a post.  Better late than never, right?  The Lion is a pretty popular animal so it may be tough to find something new and exciting that you haven’t heard or read 50 times already.  My goal for this Wild Fact is to come up with some characteristic that is unique and unbelievably interesting.  You will have to keep reading to see if I succeed or not.

Before we get into the really exciting stuff let’s set up the picture first.  So I am sure you know that the Lion is one of Africa’s Big 5 animals and just happens to be a deadly carnivore.  You probably also realize that they roam the plains of Africa looking for wildebeest, gazelles and other scrumptious animals to fulfill their big appetite. Okay, enough with the general, boring stuff.

Personally, I find animal behaviour to be the most interesting aspect of biology and the Lion provides a ton of amazing behaviours.  We know that Lions live in social groups called “Prides”. Typically, these prides range in size from 3 to 30 individuals.  Usually these groups are composed of lionesses and cubs.  There are only a couple of males per pride and they don’t stay with their “family” for their entire lives.  When a new male decides he wants to join the group he will need to battle it out with the resident.  If the resident male loses than he is voted off the island and will likely never return.  The new male will then proceed to kill all of the lion cubs in the pride.  Why are they so mean, you ask?  Well, this little act of murder ensures that only cubs with his genes are being brought into the group.

By now you think the males are mean old bullies but the females are no better as it is the lioness that hunts down the innocent prey.  You know those videos when the cute little antelope is scrambling around before being attacked by several lions.  Yep, those are all females!  The funny part is the lioness does all the work but it is the males that are first to feed.  Even the weakest male of the pride is still dominant to the all of the females. Remember how your mother always made you finish your plate of food before leaving the table?  Well, Lions must have had a similar upbringing as they will typically finish their meal in one sitting.  In fact a Lion can consume up to 27 kg (60 lbs) of meat in one sitting, although the average is much less. Geez, this would be like me after Thanksgiving!  As a result, they usually only need to hunt every 3 to 4 days.

Lion Fast Fact – I guess this is my last chance to make sure you learn something new about the lion.  How about this?  Did you know that the darker the mane of the lion, the older they are?

Well, I hope you enjoyed our King of the Jungle Wild Fact.  Have you ever wondered why they are called “King of the Jungle” when they live on the plains of Africa?

Oh and for all of you wondering how the odd population strategy of the Lemming is beneficial.  The answer is in the comments so you just need to click Here.  Enjoy your day!