They usually live in groups of 15 or more animals called prides. Prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals.

In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together.

In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are related—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters.

Many of the females in the pride give birth at about the same time. A cub may nurse other females as well as its mother.

Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males. While the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride.

When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, insuring that all future cubs will have his genes.

The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride’s territory. A male’s loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles (eight kilometers). The roar warns off intruders and helps round up stray members of the pride.

Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three, using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey.

Lionesses aren’t the most successful of hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what’s left.

Males and females fiercely defend against any outside lions that attempt to join their pride. Maybe in this case the family that preys together stays together!

FUN FACTS

When lions walk, their heels don’t touch the ground

Lions can run at a top speed of 36 miles (58 kilometers) an hour, but not for long.

Lions drink with their tongues and can usually lap a little water at a time. It takes about ten minutes to “fill ’er up.”

Lions once roamed in Africa, southern Europe, and parts of Asia. Today their primary habitats are in Africa, with a few still living in the Gir Forest of India

A typical meal for an adult male lion is 15 pounds (7 kilograms) of meat, though lions can consume as much as 60 pounds (27 kilograms) at a sitting.

Lions have been known to live nearly 30 years in captivity and have an average life span of 15 years in the wild.

Cubs are born in litters of one to six, with two to four being the average number. Their average weight at birth is two to four pounds (one to two kilograms).

A fully grown adult male lion can weigh between 330 and 550 pounds (150 and 250 kilograms)

Lions remain inactive for up to 20 hours a day. They wait until the coolest, darkest times to hunt.

Lions are the only members of the cat family (Felidae) with manes, though only the male lions have manes.

A male lion marks the territory of his pride by spraying a mixture of urine and glandular secretions on tree trunks and bushes.