The Lions

Lions or Panthera Leo are carnivorous mammal that belongs to the family Felidae. They are mostly distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia. Lion is the second largest feline after the tiger. Traditionally 12 sub-species of lion were recognized. The differences between these subspecies mainly are mane, size, location and distribution. Today, only eight subspecies are recognized and there is a small range of hybrids with lions mating with tigers, jaguars or leopards to create unique creatures.

Lions are the only members of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism—that is, males and females look distinctly different, as a consequence of the specialized roles that each play in the pride. Visually, the male is highly distinctive and is easily recognized by its mane. The manes reflects the masculinity and health of male lions. The darker and thicker their mane, the healthier they are. Female lions or lioness are the prime hunters and work together to prey. They lack the thick mane which would impede the ability to camouflage when stalking a prey. White lion is not a subspecies rather a special morph with genetic condition called leucism. Their condition is called leucism meaning they only have pigmentation loss in the skin and fur that causes

Lion spend much of their time resting for about 20hours a day. Burst of activity follow through night till dawn when most of hunting and stalking takes place. They have the devised system f living in groups call the pride which is based around related females. The males associated with a pride tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling their territory. The pride approximately consisting of 15 individuals, they only leave the pride when challenged by other males, forced to leave or killed.

Lions have been known to breed with tigers to create unique creatures; however this is only done in the zoos and now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving the species and subspecies. The head of the male lion is one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human culture. It has been depicted extensively in literature, in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature.