Today I learned some awesome things about lions — and now you will, too:
“Until the late Pleistocene, about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans.”
“Lions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism – that is, males and females look distinctly different. They also have specialised roles that each gender plays in the pride.”
“Lions live for 10–14 years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than 20 years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than 10 years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity.”
“Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire, and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoos over the world since the late 18th century.”
“The presence, absence, colour, and size of the mane is associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity, climate, and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is the darker and fuller the mane, the healthier the lion. Sexual selection of mates by lionesses favors males with the densest, darkest mane.”
“Lions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for about 20 hours per day.”
“Lions tend to dominate smaller felines such as cheetahs and leopards where they co-occur, stealing their kills and killing their cubs and even adults when given the chance. The cheetah has a 50{82b2ded5ae086bbe31c001f0374079c9503b180ae813ec027549eb44365a9474} chance of losing its kill to lions or other predators.”
“A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat;during a mating bout, which could last several days, the couple copulates twenty to forty times a day, often forgoing eating. Lions reproduce very well in captivity.”
Daaaayyuuuummmmn!
Read more about lions at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion