Lion

The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera. Today it lives only in Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad body, a short, rounded head, round ears, and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. Male and female lions look different. Adult males are larger and have a big mane that stretches from the head to the shoulders and chest.

Lions live in grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands. They are an apex and keystone predator, hunting mostly medium-sized and large hooved mammals. Lions are usually more active during the day than other wild cats. When they are hunted or chased, however, they become active at night and at twilight. Lions are a social species and live in groups called prides. A pride has related females and cubs, along with one or a few adult males that are not related to the females. Female lions usually hunt together, while adult males often compete to keep or gain their place in the pride.

During the Neolithic period, lions lived across Africa and Eurasia, from southeastern Europe to India. Today their populations are broken up, found in parts of sub-Saharan Africa and in one group in western India. Since 1996, the lion has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. This is because lion numbers in African countries have dropped by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lions cannot survive well outside designated protected areas. The exact cause of the decline is not fully understood, but habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the biggest concerns.

Lions have appeared in many sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in books and films. They are one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire, and since the late 18th century they have been a key animal sought for display in zoological gardens around the world. Cultural depictions of lions appear all over the world, especially as a symbol of power and royalty, and they play a major role as symbols and gods in ancient religions.

For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). The lion is also not to be confused with Mountain lion, Lyon, or Loin.

Etymology

The generic name Panthera comes from the classical Latin word 'panthēra' and the ancient Greek word πάνθηρ 'panther'.

The English word lion comes from the Anglo-Norman word liun, which came from Latin leōnem (nominative: leō). That Latin word was borrowed from ancient Greek λέων léōn. The Hebrew word לָבִיא lavi may also be related.

Taxonomy

The lion was first given the scientific name Felis leo by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, in his work Systema Naturae. The genus name Panthera was coined by Lorenz Oken in 1816. Between the 1700s and 1900s, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, and 11 were recognised as valid in 2005. Scientists told them apart mostly by the size and colour of their manes and skins. Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors used only two subspecies names. In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion taxonomy based on several phylogeographic studies of lion evolution. It now recognises two subspecies: P. l. leo, the nominate lion subspecies, which includes the Asiatic lion, the regionally extinct Barbary lion, and lions in West and northern Central Africa; and P. l. melanochaita, which includes the extinct Cape lion and lions in East and Southern Africa.

Other lion relatives lived in prehistoric times. P. fossilis was larger than the modern lion. P. spelaea, the cave lion, lived in Eurasia and Beringia, and P. atrox, the American lion, lived in the Americas. The earliest lion-like fossils were found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, and lions first spread from Africa into Eurasia about 1 million years ago. Some of the lions in zoos have also been bred with tigers to make hybrids. The liger is bigger than a lion or a tiger, and the leopon is a mix of a lion and a leopard.

Further information: Panthera hybrid

Description

Further information: White lion

The lion is a muscular, broad-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a short neck, and round ears. Males have broader heads. Its fur ranges from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red, and dark brown. Newborn lions have dark spots that fade as they grow up, though faint spots may still be seen on the legs and underparts. Every lion's tail ends in a dark, hairy tuft. Among felids, the lion is second only to the tiger in size, and adult size varies across its range and habitats. Male skulls are larger than female skulls. The skull's zygomatic width and postorbital region differ from the tiger's, and the lower jaw is usually the most reliable way to tell the two apart. Skeletal muscles make up 58.8% of a lion's body weight, the highest share among mammals, and many fast twitch muscle fibres give it quick bursts of speed but less stamina.

The male's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species. It grows down and back over the head, neck, shoulders, and chest, and is typically brownish with yellow, rust, and black hairs. Mutations in the genes microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and tyrosinase may be responsible for its colour. The mane begins to grow in adolescence, when testosterone levels rise, and reaches full size at about four years old. It likely evolved to signal a male's fitness to females, and darker manes seem linked to greater reproductive success. Some males in Pendjari National Park have no mane or very short ones, and maneless lions have been reported in Senegal, Sudan's Dinder National Park, and Tsavo East National Park in Kenya. Castrated lions often have little mane because removing the gonads lowers testosterone. The white lion is a rare morph with leucism, caused by a double recessive allele, and it is not albino. White lions have occasionally been seen around Kruger National Park and the Timbavati Private Game Reserve in South Africa. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, which reduced the gene pool. Still, 17 births were recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015. White lions are bred in captivity in South Africa, where they have reportedly been used as trophies in canned hunts.

Distribution and habitat

African lions live in scattered groups across sub-Saharan Africa. They prefer grassy plains and savannahs, scrub along rivers, and open woodlands with bushes, and they rarely enter closed forests. On Mount Elgon, lions have been recorded up to 3,600 m (11,800 ft), and close to the snow line on Mount Kenya. Savannahs with 300 to 1,500 mm (12 to 59 in) of rain each year make up most of the lion's habitat in Africa, at most 3,390,821 km² (1,309,203 sq mi). Small groups also live in tropical moist forests in West Africa and montane forests in East Africa. The Asiatic lion now survives only in and around Gir National Park in Gujarat, western India, where its habitat is a mix of dry savannah forest and very dry, deciduous scrub forest.

See also: History of lions in Europe

In Africa, lions once lived across most of the continent, except the central African rainforest zone and the Sahara desert. In the 1960s they became extinct in North Africa, except in the southern part of Sudan. During the mid-Holocene, around 8,000 to 6,000 years ago, lions spread into Southeastern and Eastern Europe, partly taking over the range of the now extinct cave lion. In Hungary, lions lived from about 4,500 to 3,200 years Before Present, and in Ukraine from about 6,400 to 2,000 years Before Present. In Greece, lions were common, as Herodotus reported in 480 BC, but they were rare by 300 BC and had died out by AD 100. In Asia, lions once lived in regions with plenty of prey. They were present in the Caucasus until the 10th century, in the Levant until the Middle Ages, and in Southwest Asia until the late 19th century. The last living lion in Iran was seen in 1942, about 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Dezful, and a lioness's body was found on the banks of the Karun river in Khuzestan province in 1944. Lions once ranged from Sind and Punjab in Pakistan to Bengal and the Narmada River in central India.

Behaviour and ecology

Lions spend much of their time resting, often being inactive for about twenty hours a day. Their activity usually peaks after dusk, and they hunt most often until dawn. Lions are the most social of all wild cats. They live in groups called prides, made of related lions and their young. Females usually stay in the pride they were born into, while males and some females disperse to find their own territory. Males that are not part of a pride often live as nomads for years before they gain a place in one.

Lions are hypercarnivores, meaning they eat mostly meat. Their main prey is large, hoofed animals such as blue wildebeest, plains zebra, and African buffalo. Lions can run fast, but only in short bursts, so they creep close to their prey before they attack. They often share their food with other lions in the pride. Lions also compete for food with other animals, such as spotted hyenas, cheetahs, and African wild dogs. Lions often take food from these animals, and sometimes they are taken from by them.

Conservation

The lion is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the African population is on CITES Appendix II. Many large, well-managed protected areas in Africa support big lion populations. Where wildlife tourism brings in money, that money helps lion conservation. Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa, and their numbers have fallen quickly, by an estimated 30–50% in the second half of the 20th century. Disease and human interference are the main causes of this decline. In West Africa, lions live in a small, separate group, and it is listed as Critically Endangered. In Asia, the last home of the Asiatic lion is Gir National Park area in the region of Saurashtra or Kathiawar Peninsula in India. The Indian population is listed on CITES Appendix I. Its numbers have grown from about 180 lions in 1974 to about 650 in 2017.

Some zoos are working to keep lions alive. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums started a Species Survival Plan for the Asiatic lion in 1982. Scientists found that many lions in North American zoos were mixed between African and Asiatic lions, so breeding programs now need to record where animals came from. Many captive lions registered in the International Species Information System in 2006 had unknown origins, but they may carry genes that are extinct in the wild and so may be important for keeping lions genetically varied.

Interactions with humans

Lions have been kept in zoos since the late 18th century. Today more than 1,000 African and 100 Asiatic lions live in zoos and wildlife parks around the world, where they are kept for tourism, education, and conservation. Lions can live over twenty years in captivity, and three sibling lions at the Honolulu Zoo lived to the age of 22 in 2007. Lion taming became part of both circuses and individual acts in the early 19th century. Lions have been hunted since ancient times, often as a royal tradition meant to show the king's power over nature. The Maasai people have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Lions do not usually hunt humans, but some, usually males, seem to seek them out.

See also: Lion baiting

Further information: Man-eater lions

Main article: Cultural depictions of lions

The lion is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. It is considered the 'King of the Beasts' and has symbolised power, royalty, and protection. Several leaders have had "lion" in their name, including Sundiata Keita, who was called "Lion of Mali", and Richard the Lionheart of England. In sub-Saharan Africa, the lion is a common character in stories, proverbs, and dances. In Ancient Egypt, lions were linked with the sun and the waters of the Nile.

The lion was a prominent symbol in ancient Mesopotamia, where it was strongly associated with kingship. In India, the Lion Capital of Ashoka depicts four lions standing back to back. In ancient Greece, the lion appears in several of Aesop's fables. Lions also appear in modern stories, including the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King.