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{{Short description|Large cat native to Africa and India}}
{{Otheruses}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Sprotect|small=yes}}
{{Distinguish|Mountain lion}}
{{redirect|King of beasts|the 2018 film|King of Beasts|the ''One Piece'' character|King of Beasts (One Piece)}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Pp|vandalism|small=y}}
{{Pp-move|vandalism}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Lion
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Pleistocene|Present}}
<!--Please do not replace these featured images without a consensus-->
| image = 020 The lion king Snyggve in the Serengeti National Park Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg
| image_caption = Male in [[Serengeti National Park]], Tanzania
| image2 = Okonjima Lioness.jpg
| image2_caption = Female in [[Okonjima]], Namibia
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |title=''Panthera leo'' |author1=Nicholson, S. |author2=Bauer, H. |author3=Strampelli, P. |author4=Sogbohossou, E. |author5=Ikanda, D. |author6=Tumenta, P. F. |author7=Venktraman, M. |author8=Chapron, G. |author9=Loveridge, A. |year=2024 |amends=2023 |page=e.T15951A259030422 |access-date=30 June 2024}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = {{efn|Populations of India are listed in Appendix I.}}<ref name=IUCN/>
| taxon = Panthera leo<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3 Carnivora |id=14000228 |page=546 |heading=Species ''Panthera leo''}}</ref>
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])<ref name="Linn1758" />
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = :''[[Panthera leo leo|P. l. leo]]''
:''[[Panthera leo melanochaita|P. l. melanochaita]]''
:{{dagger}}''[[Sri Lanka lion|P. l. sinhaleyus]]''
| range_map = Lion (Panthera leo) IUCN range 2023.svg
| range_map_caption = Historical lion distribution
}}


The '''lion''' ('''''Panthera leo''''') is a large [[Felidae|cat]] of the genus ''[[Panthera]]'', native to [[Africa]] and [[India]]. It has a muscular, broad-chested [[body (biology)|body]]; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is [[sexually dimorphic]]; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a [[social species]], forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on medium-sized and large [[ungulate]]s. The lion is an [[apex predator|apex]] and [[keystone predator]].
{{Sprotect|small=yes}}
{{Taxobox
| name=Lion<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3|id=14000228}}</ref>
| fossil_range = Early [[Pleistocene]] to recent
| status=VU
| status_system=iucn3.1
| trend=down
| status_ref =<ref name="iucn">{{IUCN2008|assessors=Bauer, H., Nowell, K. & Packer, C.|year=2008|id=15951|title=Panthera leo|downloaded=9 October 2008}}</ref>
| image=Lion waiting in Nambia.jpg
| image_width=250px
| image_caption=Male
| image2=Okonjima Lioness.jpg
| image2_width=250px
| image2_caption=Female (Lioness)
| regnum=[[Animal]]ia
| phylum=[[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis=[[Mammal]]ia
| ordo=[[Carnivora]]
| familia=[[Felidae]]
| genus=''[[Panthera]]''
| species='''''P. leo'''''
| binomial=''Panthera leo''
| binomial_authority=([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758)
| synonyms=<center>'''''Felis leo '''''<br /><small>[[Carolus Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758</small><ref name="Linn1758" /></center>
| range_map=Lion_distribution.png
| range_map_width=250px
| range_map_caption=Historic (red) and present (blue) distribution of lions
| range_map2=Map Guj Nat Parks Sanctuary.png
| range_map2_width=250px
| range_map2_caption=Distribution of lions in India. The Gir Forest, in the State of [[Gujarat]], is the last natural range of approximately 300 wild [[Asiatic Lion]]s. There are plans to reintroduce some lions to [[Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary]] in the neighboring State of [[Madhya Pradesh]].}}


The lion inhabits [[grassland]]s, [[savannah]]s, and [[shrubland]]s. It is usually more [[diurnality|diurnal]] than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active [[nocturnality|at night]] and [[crepuscular|at twilight]]. During the [[Neolithic]] period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia, from Southeast Europe to India, but it has been reduced to fragmented populations in [[sub-Saharan Africa]] and one population in [[western India]]. It has been listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, [[habitat loss]] and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern.
The '''lion''' (''Panthera leo'') is one of the four [[big cat]]s in the [[genus]] ''[[Panthera]]'', and a member of the family [[Felidae]]. With some males exceeding 250&nbsp;kg (550&nbsp;[[pound (mass)|lb]]) in weight,<ref name = "nowak"/> it is the second-largest living cat after the [[tiger]]. Wild lions currently exist in [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] and in [[Asia]] with a [[critically endangered species|critically endangered]] remnant population in [[Gir Forest National Park]] in [[India]], having disappeared from [[North Africa]] and [[Southwest Asia]] in historic times. Until the late [[Pleistocene]], about 10,000&nbsp;years ago, the lion was the most widespread large land mammal after humans. They were found in most of Africa as well as much of Eurasia from western Europe to India.


One of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in literature and films. Lions have been kept in [[menagerie]]s since the time of the [[Roman Empire]] and have been a key species sought for exhibition in [[zoological garden]]s across the world since the late 18th century. [[Cultural depictions of lions]] were prominent in [[Ancient Egypt]], and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures in the lion's historic and current range.
Lions live for ten to fourteen years in the wild, while in captivity they can live longer than twenty years. In the wild, males seldom live longer than ten years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smuts |first=G.L. |year=1982 |title=Lion|publisher=Macmillian South Africa (Publishers)(Pty.) Ltd.|location=Johannesburg |page=231|isbn= 0-86954-122-6}}</ref> They typically inhabit [[savanna]] and [[grassland]], although they may take to bush and [[forest]]. Lions are unusually [[social animal|social]] compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large [[ungulate]]s. Lions are [[apex predator|apex]] and [[keystone species#Predators|keystone]] predators, although they scavenge as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans selectively, some have been known to seek human prey.

The lion is a [[vulnerable species]], having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of thirty to fifty percent over the past two decades in its African range.<ref name=IUCN>{{IUCN2006|assessors=Nowell & Bauer|year=2004|id=15951|title=Panthera leo|downloaded=11 May 2006}} Database entry includes a lengthy justification of why this species is vulnerable.</ref> Lion populations are untenable outside of designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Lions have been kept in [[menagerie]]s since [[Roman era|Roman times]] and have been a key species sought for exhibition in [[zoo]]s the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered [[Asiatic Lion|Asiatic subspecies]].

Visually, the male lion is highly distinctive and is easily recognized by its [[mane]]. The lion, particularly the face of the male, is one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human [[culture]]. Depictions have existed from the [[Upper Paleolithic]] period, with carvings and paintings from the [[Lascaux]] and [[Chauvet Cave]]s, through virtually all ancient and medieval cultures where they historically occurred. It has been extensively depicted in literature, in [[sculpture]]s, in [[painting]]s, on national [[flag]]s, and in contemporary [[film]]s and [[literature]].


==Etymology==
==Etymology==
The English word ''lion'' is derived via [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] {{lang|xno|liun}} from [[Latin]] {{lang|la|leōnem}} (nominative: {{lang|la|leō}}), which in turn was a borrowing from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|λέων}} {{lang|grc-Latn|léōn}}. The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word {{lang|he|לָבִיא|rtl=yes}} {{lang|he-Latn|lavi}} may also be related.<ref>{{cite OED|lion|access-date=20 March 2022}}</ref> The generic name ''Panthera'' is traceable to the [[classical Latin]] word 'panthēra' and the [[ancient Greek]] word πάνθηρ 'panther'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Liddell, H. G. |last2=Scott, R. |year=1940 |chapter=πάνθηρ |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2377441 |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |edition=Revised and augmented |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |access-date=20 February 2021 |archive-date=11 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411203109/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2377441 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The lion's name, similar in many [[Romance languages]], derives from the [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|leo}}'';<ref>{{cite book | author=Simpson DP | title=Cassell's Latin Dictionary | publisher=Cassell Ltd. | year=1979 | edition=5th | location=London | page=883 | isbn=0-304-52257-0}}</ref> cf. the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|λέων}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|leon}}).<ref name="Liddell 1980">{{cite book | author=[[Henry George Liddell|Liddell, Henry George]] and [[Robert Scott (philologist)|Robert Scott]] | year=1980 | title=[[A Greek-English Lexicon]] (Abridged Edition) | publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] | location=United Kingdom | isbn=0-19-910207-4}}</ref> The [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word {{lang|he|לָבִיא}} ({{lang|he-Latn|''lavi''}}) may also be related,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia| title=Lion|encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary|editor=Simpson, J., Weiner, E. (eds)| year=1989 |edition= 2nd edition| location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press|id=ISBN 0-19-861186-2}}</ref> as well as the [[Ancient Egyptian]] ''rw''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/l/l0190400.html |title= yourdictionary.com |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070826092840/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/l/l0190400.html |archivedate=2007-08-26}}. As in other ancient scripts, in Ancient Egyptian only the consonants are written. No distinction was made between 'l' and 'r'.</ref> It was one of the many species originally described, as ''Felis leo'', by [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]] in his eighteenth&nbsp;century work, ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref name="Linn1758">{{cite book|last=Linnaeus |first=Carolus |authorlink=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae :secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. |publisher=Holmiae (Laurentii Salvii) |year=1758 |page=41 |url=http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726936 |accessdate=2008-09-08 |language=Latin |volume=1 |edition=10th}}</ref> The generic component of its scientific designation, ''Panthera leo'', often is presumed to derive from Greek ''pan-'' ("all") and ''ther'' ("beast"), but this may be a [[folk etymology]]. Although it came into English through the classical languages, it shows a striking resemblance to [[Sanskrit]] ''pundarikam'' "tiger," which in turn may come from ''pandarah'' "whitish-yellow".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=panther | title="Panther" | work=Online Etymology Dictionary | publisher=Douglas Harper | accessdate=2007-07-05}}</ref>


==Taxonomy and evolution==
==Taxonomy==
[[File:Two cladograms for Panthera.svg|thumb|right|The upper cladogram is based on the 2006 study,<ref name=Johnson2006/><ref name="werdelin2009">{{cite journal |last1=Werdelin |first1=L. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=N. |last3=Johnson |first3=W. E. |last4=O'Brien |first4=S. J. |title=Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) |journal=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |year=2010 |pages=59–82 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |access-date=10 February 2019 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925141956/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |url-status=live }}</ref> the lower one on the 2010<ref name=davis2010/> and 2011<ref name=mazak2011/> studies.]]
The oldest lion-like [[fossil]] is known from [[Laetoli]] in [[Tanzania]] and is perhaps 3.5&nbsp;million years old; some scientists have identified the material as ''Panthera leo''. These records are not well-substantiated, and all that can be said is that they pertain to a ''Panthera''-like felid. The oldest confirmed records of ''Panthera leo'' in [[Africa]] are about 2&nbsp;million years younger.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Werdelin |first=Lars |coauthors=Lewis, Margaret E. |year=2005 |month=June |title=Plio-Pleistocene Carnivora of eastern Africa: species richness and turnover patterns |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=144|issue=2 |pages=121–144 |publisher=The Linnean Society of London |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/zoj/2005/00000144/00000002/art00001 |accessdate=2007-07-08 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00165.x}}</ref>
The closest relatives of the lion are the other ''[[Panthera]]'' species: the [[tiger]], the [[jaguar]], and the [[leopard]]. Morphological and genetic studies reveal that the tiger was the first of these recent species to diverge. About 1.9&nbsp;million years ago the jaguar branched off the remaining group, which contained ancestors of the [[leopard]] and lion. The lion and leopard subsequently separated about 1 to 1.25&nbsp;million years ago from each other.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Yu |first=Li |coauthors=Ya-ping Zhang |month=May |year=2003 |title=Phylogenetic studies of pantherine cats (Felidae) based on multiple genes, with novel application of nuclear β-fibrinogen intron 7 to carnivores |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=483–495 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2005.01.017 |pmid=15804417}}</ref>


''Felis leo'' was the [[scientific name]] used by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758, who described the lion in his work ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref name="Linn1758">{{cite book |last=Linnaeus|first= C. |year=1758 |title=Caroli Linnæi Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis |volume=Tomus I |edition=decima, reformata |location=Holmiae |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |page=41 |chapter=''Felis leo'' |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753000798865#page/41/mode/2up}} {{in lang|la}}</ref> The genus name ''Panthera'' was coined by [[Lorenz Oken]] in 1816.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oken |first1=L. |year=1816 |title=Lehrbuch der Zoologie. 2. Abtheilung |location=Jena |publisher=August Schmid & Comp. |page=1052 |chapter=1. Art, ''Panthera'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5o5AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1052}}</ref> Between the mid-18th and mid-20th centuries, 26 lion [[Zoological specimen|specimen]]s were described and proposed as subspecies, of which 11 were recognised as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]] in 2005.<ref name=MSW3/> They were distinguished mostly by the size and colour of their manes and skins.<ref name=Hemmer/>
''Panthera leo'' itself evolved in [[Africa]] between 1 million and 800,000 years ago, before spreading throughout the [[Holarctic]] region.<ref>{{cite journal |last= Yamaguchi |first=Nobuyuki| coauthors=Alan Cooper, Lars Werdelin and David W. Macdonald|year=2004 |month=August |title= Evolution of the mane and group-living in the lion (Panthera leo): a review|journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=263 |issue=4 |pages=329–342 |doi=10.1017/S0952836904005242 }}</ref> It appeared in Europe for the first time 700,000 years ago with the subspecies ''[[Panthera leo fossilis]]'' at [[Isernia]] in [[Italy]]. From this lion derived the later [[Cave Lion]] (''Panthera leo spelaea''), which appeared about 300,000 years ago.


===Subspecies===
===Subspecies===
[[File:Lion subspecies distribution3.png|thumb|Range map showing distribution of subspecies and clades]]
[[File:Asiatic african lions.jpg|thumb|African (above) and Asiatic (below) lions, as illustrated in ''Johnsons Book of Nature'']]
Traditionally, twelve recent [[subspecies]] of lion were recognized, the largest of which has been recognized as the [[Barbary Lion]].<ref>[http://www.tigerhomes.org/animal/barbary-lion.cfm Barbary Lion - Panthera leo leo - Largest Lion Subspecies] Retrieved on 19 September 2007</ref> The major differences separating these subspecies are location, mane appearance, size, and distribution. Because these characteristics are very insignificant and show a high individual variability, most of these forms were debatable and probably invalid; additionally, they often were based upon zoo material of unknown origin that may have had "striking, but abnormal" morphological characteristics.<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Grisham |first=Jack |editor=Catherine E. Bell |title=Lion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos |volume=Volume 2: G–P |year=2001 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |location=Chofago |id=ISBN1-57958-174-9 |pages=733–739 }}</ref> Today only eight subspecies usually are accepted,<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny">{{cite journal |author=Burger, Joachim ''et al.'' |month=March |year=2004 |title=Molecular phylogeny of the extinct cave lion ''Panthera leo spelaea'' |journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]] |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=841–849 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.020| url= http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Biologie/Anthropologie/MolA/Download/Burger%202004.pdf| accessdate=2007-09-20 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref name="Conservation-Genetics:Preserving-Genetic-Diversity" /> but one of these (the Cape Lion formerly described as ''Panthera leo melanochaita'') probably is invalid.<ref name="Conservation-Genetics:Preserving-Genetic-Diversity" />
Even the remaining seven subspecies might be too many; [[mitochondria]]l variation in recent African lions is modest, which suggests that all sub-Saharan lions could be considered a single subspecies, possibly divided in two main clades: one to the west of the [[Great Rift Valley]] and the other to the east. Lions from [[Tsavo]] in Eastern Kenya are much closer genetically to lions in [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] (South Africa), than to those in the [[Aberdare Range]] in Western Kenya.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Ross |coauthors=Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Ian Barnes and Alan Cooper |year=2006 |title=The origin, current diversity and future conservation of the modern lion (''Panthera leo'') |journal= Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=273 |issue=1598 |pages=2119–2125 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2006.3555 |url= http://www.adelaide.edu.au/acad/publications/papers/Barnett%20PRS%20lions.pdf |format=PDF|accessdate=2007-09-04}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Dubach |first=Jean| coauthors=et ''al'' |year=2005 |month=January |title=Molecular genetic variation across the southern and eastern geographic ranges of the African lion, ''Panthera leo'' |journal=Conservation Genetics |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=15–24 |doi=10.1007/s10592-004-7729-6}}</ref>


In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion [[type specimen]]s were described and proposed as [[subspecies]], with about a dozen recognised as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]] [[Taxon|taxa]] until 2017.<ref name=MSW3/> Between 2008 and 2016, [[IUCN Red List]] assessors used only two subspecific names: ''P. l. leo'' for African lion populations, and ''P. l. persica'' for the Asiatic lion population.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=Breitenmoser2008>{{cite iucn |author=Breitenmoser, U. |author2=Mallon, D. P. |author3=Ahmad Khan, J. |author4=Driscoll, C. |date=2008 |page=e.T15952A5327221 |title=''Panthera leo'' ssp. ''persica'' |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T15952A5327221.en}}</ref><ref name=Henschel2015>{{cite iucn |author=Henschel, P. |author2=Bauer, H. |author3=Sogbohoussou, E. |author4=Nowell, K. |date=2015 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T68933833A54067639.en |title=''Panthera leo'' West Africa subpopulation}}</ref> In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], and recognises two subspecies based on results of several [[phylogeographic]] studies on lion [[evolution]], namely:<ref name=catsg>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |volume=Special Issue 11 |pages=71–73 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=71 |access-date=6 August 2019 |archive-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117172708/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y#page=71 |url-status=live}}</ref>
====Recent====
Eight recent subspecies are recognized today:
* ''P. l. persica'', known as the [[Asiatic Lion]] or South Asian, Persian, or Indian Lion, once was widespread from [[Turkey]], across [[Southwest Asia]], to [[Pakistan]], [[India]], and even to [[Bangladesh]]. However, large prides and daylight activity made them easier to poach than tigers or leopards; now around 300 exist in and near the [[Gir Forest National Park|Gir Forest]] of India.<ref name="Asiaticweb">{{cite web | author=Wildlife Conservation Trust of India | title=Asiatic Lion - History | work=Asiatic Lion Information Centre | publisher=Wildlife Conservation Trust of India | year=2006 | url=http://www.asiaticlion.org/asiatic-lion-history.htm | accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref>
* ''P. l. leo'', known as the [[Barbary Lion]], is extinct in the wild due to excessive hunting, although captive individuals may still exist. This was one of the largest of the lion subspecies, with reported lengths of 3–3.3 metres (10–10.8&nbsp;ft) and weights of more than {{convert|200|kg|lb}} for males. They ranged from [[Morocco]] to [[Egypt]]. The last wild Barbary lion was killed in Morocco in 1922.<ref name=CAP>{{cite book |author=Nowell K, Jackson P |title= Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan|url=http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |format=PDF |year=1996 |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |location= Gland, Switzerland |isbn=2-8317-0045-0 |pages= 17–21|chapter= Panthera Leo}}</ref>
* ''P. l. senegalensis'', known as the [[West African]] Lion, is found in western Africa, from [[Senegal]] to [[Nigeria]].
* ''P. l. azandica'', known as the Northeast Congo Lion, is found in the northeastern parts of the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo]].
* ''P. l. nubica'', known as the East African or Massai Lion, is found in east Africa, from [[Ethiopia]] and [[Kenya]] to [[Tanzania]] and [[Mozambique]].
* ''P. l. bleyenberghi'', known as the Southwest African or Katanga Lion, is found in southwestern Africa, [[Namibia]], [[Botswana]], [[Angola]], [[Katanga Province|Katanga]] ([[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Zaire]]), [[Zambia]], and [[Zimbabwe]].
* ''P. l. krugeri'', known as the Southeast African Lion or Transvaal Lion, is found in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] region of southeastern Africa, including [[Kruger National Park]].
* ''P. l. melanochaita'', known as the [[Cape Lion]], became extinct in the wild around 1860. Results of [[mitochondrial DNA]] research do not support the status as a distinct subspecies. It seems probable that the Cape lion was only the southernmost population of the extant ''P. l. krugeri''.<ref name="Conservation-Genetics:Preserving-Genetic-Diversity" />
* ''P. l. nubica'', known as the East African or [[Tsavo lion]], is found in east Africa, from Kenya and [[Tsavo National Park]]


*[[Panthera leo leo|''P. l. leo'']] {{small|(Linnaeus, 1758)}} − the [[Nominate subspecies|nominate]] lion subspecies includes the [[Asiatic lion]], the [[Locally extinct|regionally extinct]] [[Barbary lion]], and lion populations in West and northern parts of Central Africa.<ref name=catsg/> [[Synonym (taxonomy)|Synonyms]] include ''P. l. persica'' {{small|(Meyer, 1826)}}, ''P. l. senegalensis'' {{small|(Meyer, 1826)}}, ''P. l. kamptzi'' {{small|([[Paul Matschie|Matschie]], 1900)}}, and ''P. l. azandica'' {{small|([[Joel Asaph Allen|Allen]], 1924)}}.<ref name=MSW3/> Multiple authors referred to it as 'northern lion' and 'northern subspecies'.<ref name="Wood1865">{{cite book |last=Wood |first=J. G. |author-link=John George Wood |title=The Illustrated Natural History |volume=((Mammalia, Volume 1)) |publisher=[[Routledge]] |chapter=Felidæ; or the Cat Tribe |pages=129−148 |location=London |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA147 |year=1865 |access-date=23 December 2018 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505150653/https://books.google.com/books?id=v1DPAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA147#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Hunter2018>{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=L. |last2=Barrett |first2=P. |title=The Field Guide to Carnivores of the World |edition=Second |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London, Oxford, New York, New Delhi, Sydney |isbn=978-1-4729-5080-2 |date=2018 |chapter=Lion ''Panthera leo'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4HpxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |pages=46−47 |access-date=1 December 2018 |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305201610/https://books.google.com/books?id=4HpxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |url-status=live}}</ref>
====Prehistoric====
*[[Panthera leo melanochaita|''P. l. melanochaita'']] {{small|([[Charles Hamilton Smith|Smith]], 1842)}} − includes the extinct [[Cape lion]] and lion populations in East and Southern African regions.<ref name=catsg/> Synonyms include ''P. l. somaliensis'' {{small|(Noack 1891)}}, ''P. l. massaica'' {{small|([[Oscar Neumann|Neumann]], 1900)}}, ''P. l. sabakiensis'' {{small|([[Einar Lönnberg|Lönnberg]], 1910)}}, ''P. l. bleyenberghi'' {{small|(Lönnberg, 1914)}}, ''P. l. roosevelti'' {{small|([[Edmund Heller|Heller]], 1914)}}, ''P. l. nyanzae'' {{small|(Heller, 1914)}}, ''P. l. hollisteri'' {{small|([[Joel Asaph Allen|Allen]], 1924)}}, ''P. l. krugeri'' {{small|([[Austin Roberts (zoologist)|Roberts]], 1929)}}, ''P. l. vernayi'' {{small|(Roberts, 1948)}}, and ''P. l. webbiensis'' {{small|(Zukowsky, 1964)}}.<ref name=MSW3 /><ref name=Hemmer/> It has been referred to as 'southern subspecies' and 'southern lion'.<ref name=Hunter2018/>
Several additional subspecies of lion existed in prehistoric times:
<!-- prose form please -->
* ''P. l. atrox'', known as the [[American Lion]] or American cave lion, was abundant in the Americas from [[Alaska]] to [[Peru]] in the Pleistocene Epoch until about 10,000 years ago. This form is now considered to represent separate species close to the [[jaguar]], <ref>[http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/05/the-american-lion-is-not-a-lio.html The "American Lion" is not a lion]</ref>


However, there seems to be some degree of overlap between both groups in northern Central Africa. DNA analysis from a more recent study indicates that Central African lions are derived from both northern and southern lions, as they cluster with ''P. leo leo'' in mtDNA-based phylogenies whereas their genomic DNA indicates a closer relationship with P. ''leo melanochaita''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=de Manuel |first1=M. |last2=Barnett |first2=R.|last3=Sandoval-Velasco |first3=M. |last4=Yamaguchi |first4=N. |last5=Vieira |first5=F. G. |last6=Mendoza |first6=M. L. Z. |last7=Liu |first7=S. |last8=Martin |first8=M. D. |last9=Sinding |first9=M-S. S. |last10=Mak |first10=S. S. T. |last11=Carøe |first11=C. |last12=Liu |first12=S. |last13=Guo |first13=C. |last14=Zheng |first14=J. |last15=Zazula |first15=G. |last16=Baryshnikov |first16=G. |last17=Eizirik |first17=E. |last18=Koepfli |first18=K.-P. |last19=Johnson |first19=W. E. |last20=Antunes |first20=A. |last21=Sicheritz-Ponten |first21=T. |last22=Gopalakrishnan |first22=S. |last23=Larson |first23=G. |last24=Yang |first24=H. |last25=O'Brien |first25=S. J. |last26=Hansen |first26=A. J. |last27=Zhang |first27=G. |last28=Marques-Bonet |first28=T. |last29=Gilbert |first29=M. T. P. |date=2020 |title=The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions |journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=117 |issue=20 |pages=10927–10934 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1919423117 |pmid= 32366643 |pmc=7245068 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11710927D |doi-access=free }}</ref>
* ''P. l. fossilis'', known as the [[Panthera leo fossilis|Early Middle Pleistocene European cave lion]], flourished about 500,000 years ago; fossils have been recovered from [[Germany]] and [[Italy]]. It was larger than today's African lions, reaching the American cave lion in size<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny" /><ref>Ernst Probst: Deutschland in der Urzeit. Orbis Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-572-01057-8</ref>
[[Image:Lascaux-diverticule-félins.jpg|thumb|[[Cave Lion]]s, Chamber of Felines, [[Lascaux]] caves]]
* ''P. l. spelaea'', known as the [[Cave Lion|European cave lion]], Eurasian cave lion, or Upper Pleistocene European cave lion, occurred in Eurasia 300,000 to 10,000 years ago.<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny" /> This species is known from [[Paleolithic]] [[cave painting]]s (such as the one displayed to the right), [[ivory]] carvings, and clay busts,<ref name="Packer00">{{cite journal | last=Packer | first=Craig | coauthors=Jean Clottes | title=When Lions Ruled France | journal=Natural History | volume=| issue=| pages=52–57 | month=November | year=2000 | url=http://www.lionresearch.org/current_docs/m_pdf/36.pdf | format=PDF | accessdate=2007-08-27}}</ref> indicating it had protruding ears, tufted tails, perhaps faint tiger-like stripes, and that at least some males had a ruff or primitive mane around their necks.<ref name="Koenigswald02"/> With this example being a hunting scene it is likely that it depicts females hunting for the pride using the same strategy as their contemporary relatives and males may not be part of the subject.
* ''P. l. vereshchagini'', known as the East Siberian- or [[Beringian cave lion]], was found in [[Sakha Republic|Yakutia]] ([[Russia]]), [[Alaska]] ([[United States|USA]]), and the [[Yukon|Yukon Territory]] ([[Canada]]). Analysis of skulls and mandibles of this lion demonstrate that it is distinctly—larger than the European cave lion and smaller than the American cave lion with differing [[skull]] proportions.<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny" /><ref>{{cite journal |last= Baryshnikov|first=G.F. |coauthors=G. Boeskorov |year=2001 |title=The Pleistocene cave lion, ''Panthera spelaea'' (Carnivora, Felidae) from Yakutia, Russia |journal=Cranium |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=7–24 |doi=}}</ref>
*P. l. nubica, known as the East African or [[Tsavo lion]], is found in east Africa, from Kenya and [[Tsavo National Park]]


Lion samples from some parts of the [[Ethiopian Highlands]] cluster genetically with those from Cameroon and Chad, while lions from other areas of Ethiopia cluster with samples from East Africa. Researchers, therefore, assume Ethiopia is a contact zone between the two subspecies.<ref name=Bertola2016>{{cite journal |author1=Bertola, L. D. |author2=Jongbloed, H. |author3=Van Der Gaag, K. J. |author4=De Knijff, P. |author5=Yamaguchi, N. |author6=Hooghiemstra, H. |author7=Bauer, H. |author8=Henschel, P. |author9=White, P. A. |author10=Driscoll, C. A. |author11=Tende, T. |author12=Ottosson, U. |author13=Saidu, Y. |author14=Vrieling, K. |author15=de Iongh, H. H. |year=2016 |title=Phylogeographic patterns in Africa and High Resolution Delineation of genetic clades in the Lion (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Scientific Reports |volume=6 |page=30807 |doi=10.1038/srep30807 |pmid=27488946 |pmc=4973251 |bibcode=2016NatSR...630807B}}</ref> [[Genome]]-wide data of a wild-born historical lion sample from Sudan showed that it clustered with ''P. l. leo'' in mtDNA-based phylogenies, but with a high affinity to ''P. l. melanochaita''. This result suggested that the taxonomic position of lions in Central Africa may require revision.<ref name="DeManuel_al2020">{{cite journal |author1=de Manuel, M. |author2=Ross, B. |author3=Sandoval-Velasco, M. |author4=Yamaguchi, N. |author5=Vieira, F. G. |author6=Mendoza, M. L. Z. |author7=Liu, S. |author8=Martin, M. D. |author9=Sinding, M.-H. S. |author10=Mak, S. S. T. |author11=Carøe, C. |author12=Liu, S. |author13=Guo, C. |author14=Zheng, J. |author15=Zazula, G. |author16=Baryshnikov, G. |author17=Eizirik, E. |author18=Koepfli, K.-P. |author19=Johnson, W. E. |author20=Antunes, A. |author21=Sicheritz-Ponten, T. |author22=Gopalakrishnan, S. |author23=Larson, G. |author24=Yang, H. |author25=O'Brien, S. J. |author26=Hansen, A. J. |author27=Zhang, G. |author28=Marques-Bonet, T. |author29=Gilbert, M. T. P. |title=The evolutionary history of extinct and living lions |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=117 |issue=20 |pages=10927–10934 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1919423117 |year=2020 |pmid=32366643 |pmc=7245068 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11710927D |doi-access=free}}</ref>
====Dubious====
* ''P. l. sinhaleyus'', known as the [[Sri Lanka Lion]], appears to have become extinct [[circa|approximately]] 39,000 years ago. It is only known from two teeth found in deposits at [[Kuruwita]]. Based on these teeth, [[Paul E. P. Deraniyagala|P. Deraniyagala]] erected this subspecies in 1939.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi, Rohan Pethiyagoda, Rajith Dissanayake, Madhava Meegaskumbura |year=2005 |title=A second extinct big cat from the late Quaternary of Sri Lanka. |journal=The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement |volume=12 |pages=423–434 |id= |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s12/s12rbz423-434.pdf|publisher=National University of Singapore |accessdate= 2007-07-31|format=PDF}}</ref>
* ''P. l. europaea'', known as the [[European Lion]], probably was identical with ''Panthera leo persica'' or ''Panthera leo spelea''; its status as a subspecies is unconfirmed. It became extinct around 100 AD due to persecution and [[over-exploitation]]. It inhabited the [[Balkans]], the [[Italian Peninsula]], southern [[France]], and the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. It was a very popular object of hunting among [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and [[ancient Greece|Greeks]].


===Fossil records===
* ''P. l. youngi'' or ''[[Panthera youngi]]'', flourished 350,000 years ago.<ref name=Harington69>{{cite journal |last=Harington |first=CR |year=1969 |title=Pleistocene remains of the lion-like cat (''Panthera atrox'') from the Yukon Territory and northern Alaska |journal=Canadian Journal Earth Sciences |volume=6 |issue=5 |pages=1277–1288 }}</ref> Its relationship to the extant lion subspecies is obscure, and it probably represents a distinct species.


[[File:Panthera Atrox.jpg |thumb|right|Skull of an American lion on display at the [[National Museum of Natural History]]]]
*''P. l. maculatus'', known as the [[Marozi]] or Spotted lion, sometimes is believed to be a distinct subspecies, but may be an adult lion that has retained its juvenile spotted pattern. If it was a subspecies in its own right, rather than a small number of aberrantly colored individuals, it has been extinct since 1931. A less likely identity is a natural leopard-lion [[Panthera hybrid|hybrid]] commonly known as a [[leopon]].<ref name="shuker">{{cite book | last=Shuker | first=Karl P.N. | authorlink=Karl Shuker | title=Mystery Cats of the World | publisher=Robert Hale | year=1989 | isbn=0-7090-3706-6}}</ref>


Other lion subspecies or [[sister species]] to the modern lion existed in prehistoric times:<ref name="Christiansen08CaveLions">{{cite journal |last1=Christiansen |first1=P. |year=2008 |title=Phylogeny of the great cats (Felidae: Pantherinae), and the influence of fossil taxa and missing characters |journal=[[Cladistics (journal)|Cladistics]] |volume=24 |issue=6 |pages=977–992 |doi=10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00226.x|pmid=34892880 |s2cid=84497516 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
===Hybrids===
*''[[Panthera leo sinhaleyus|P. l. sinhaleyus]]'' was a [[fossil]] [[carnassial]] excavated in [[Sri Lanka]], which was attributed to a lion. It is thought to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal|first1=K. |last1=Manamendra-Arachchi |first2=R. |last2=Pethiyagoda |first3=R. |last3=Dissanayake |first4=M. |last4=Meegaskumbura |year=2005 |title=A second extinct big cat from the late Quaternary of Sri Lanka |journal=[[The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology]] |issue=Supplement 12 |pages=423–434 |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s12/s12rbz423-434.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807215533/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s12/s12rbz423-434.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 August 2007 }}</ref>
{{further|[[Panthera hybrid]], [[Liger]], and [[Tiglon|Tigon]]}}
*[[Panthera fossilis|''P. fossilis'']] was larger than the modern lion and lived in the [[Middle Pleistocene]]. Bone fragments were excavated in caves in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Czech Republic.<ref name=Marciszak2010>{{cite journal |last1=Marciszak |first1=A. |last2=Stefaniak |first2=K. |year=2010 |title=Two forms of cave lion: Middle Pleistocene ''Panthera spelaea fossilis'' Reichenau, 1906 and Upper Pleistocene ''Panthera spelaea spelaea'' Goldfuss, 1810 from the Bisnik Cave, Poland |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen |volume=258 |issue=3 |pages=339–351 |doi=10.1127/0077-7749/2010/0117 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233669138 |access-date=14 March 2019 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925142142/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233669138 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Sabol2014>{{cite journal |last=Sabol |first=M. |year=2014 |title=''Panthera fossilis'' (Reichenau, 1906) (Felidae, Carnivora) from Za Hájovnou Cave (Moravia, The Czech Republic): A Fossil Record from 1987–2007 |journal=Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae, Series B, Historia Naturalis |volume=70 |issue=1–2 |pages=59–70 | doi=10.14446/AMNP.2014.59 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
*''[[Panthera spelaea|P. spelaea]]'', or the '''cave lion''', lived in [[Eurasia]] and [[Beringia]] during the [[Late Pleistocene]]. It became extinct due to [[climate warming]] or [[Early human migrations|human expansion]] latest by 11,900 years ago.<ref name=Stuart2011>{{cite journal |last1=Stuart |first1=A. J. |last2=Lister |first2=A. M. |year=2011 |title=Extinction chronology of the cave lion ''Panthera spelaea'' |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=30 |issue=17 |pages=2329–2340 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.04.023 |bibcode=2011QSRv...30.2329S}}</ref> Bone fragments excavated in European, North Asian, Canadian and Alaskan caves indicate that it ranged from Europe across Siberia into western Alaska.<ref name="Hemmer2011">{{cite journal |author=Hemmer, H. |year=2011 |title=The story of the cave lion – ''Panthera Leo Spelaea'' (Goldfuss, 1810) – A review |journal=Quaternaire |volume=4|pages=201–208|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285886884}}</ref> It likely derived from ''P. fossilis'',<ref name=Barnett2016>{{cite journal |last1=Barnett |first1=R. |last2=Mendoza |first2=M. L. Z. |last3=Soares |first3=A. E. R. |last4=Ho |first4=S. Y. W. |last5=Zazula |first5=G. |last6=Yamaguchi |first6=N. |last7=Shapiro |first7=B. |last8=Kirillova |first8=I. V. |last9=Larson |first9=G. |last10=Gilbert |first10=M. T. P. |year=2016 |title=Mitogenomics of the Extinct Cave Lion, ''Panthera spelaea'' (Goldfuss, 1810), resolve its position within the ''Panthera'' cats |journal=Open Quaternary |volume=2 |page=4 |doi=10.5334/oq.24 |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9d4f84e6-64c6-49fd-a1dc-a981ba7e8028/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=Larson%2Bet%2Bal%252C%2BMitogenomics%2Bof%2Bthe%2BExtinct%2BCave%2BLion%252C%2BPanthera%2Bspelaea%2B%2528Goldfuss%252C%2B1810%2529%252C%2Bresolve%2Bits%2Bposition%2Bwit.pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article |doi-access=free |hdl=10576/22920 |hdl-access=free |access-date=18 May 2019 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003085724/https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9d4f84e6-64c6-49fd-a1dc-a981ba7e8028/download_file?file_format=pdf&safe_filename=Larson%2Bet%2Bal%252C%2BMitogenomics%2Bof%2Bthe%2BExtinct%2BCave%2BLion%252C%2BPanthera%2Bspelaea%2B%2528Goldfuss%252C%2B1810%2529%252C%2Bresolve%2Bits%2Bposition%2Bwit.pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article |url-status=live }}</ref> and was genetically isolated and highly distinct from the modern lion in Africa and Eurasia.<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny">{{Cite journal |last1=Burger |first1=J. |year=2004 |title=Molecular phylogeny of the extinct cave lion ''Panthera leo spelaea'' |journal=[[Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution]] |pmid=15012963 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=841–849 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.020 |url=http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Biologie/Anthropologie/MolA/Download/Burger%202004.pdf |last3=Loreille |first3=O. |last4=Hemmer |first4=H. |last5=Eriksson |first5=T. |last6=Götherström |first6=A. |last7=Hiller |first7=J. |last8=Collins |first8=M. J. |last9=Wess |first9=T. |last2=Rosendahl |first2=W. |last10=Alt |first10=K. W. |bibcode=2004MolPE..30..841B |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925204424/http://www.uni-mainz.de/FB/Biologie/Anthropologie/MolA/Download/Burger%202004.pdf |archive-date=25 September 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Barnett2016/> It is depicted in [[Paleolithic]] cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts.<ref name="Packer00">{{Cite journal |author=Packer, C. |author2=Clottes, J. |title=When Lions Ruled France |journal=Natural History |volume=109 |issue=9 |pages=52–57 |date=2000 |url=http://www.cbs.umn.edu/sites/cbs.umn.edu/files/public/downloads/When_lions_ruled_France.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229212607/http://cbs.umn.edu/sites/cbs.umn.edu/files/public/downloads/When_lions_ruled_France.pdf |archive-date=29 December 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
*[[American lion|''P. atrox'']], or the '''American lion''', ranged in the Americas from Canada to possibly [[Patagonia]] during the Late Pleistocene.<ref name="Chimento2017">{{Cite journal |last1=Chimento |first1=N. R. |last2=Agnolin |first2=F. L. |year=2017 |title=The fossil American lion (''Panthera atrox'') in South America: Palaeobiogeographical implications |journal=Comptes Rendus Palevol |volume=16 |issue=8 |pages=850–864 |doi=10.1016/j.crpv.2017.06.009 |bibcode=2017CRPal..16..850C |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321056731|doi-access=free |hdl=11336/65990 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> It diverged from the cave lion around 165,000 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Salis |first1=Alexander T. |last2=Bray |first2=Sarah C. E. |last3=Lee |first3=Michael S. Y. |last4=Heiniger |first4=Holly |last5=Barnett |first5=Ross |last6=Burns |first6=James A. |last7=Doronichev |first7=Vladimir |last8=Fedje |first8=Daryl |last9=Golovanova |first9=Liubov |last10=Harington |first10=C. Richard |last11=Hockett |first11=Bryan |last12=Kosintsev |first12=Pavel |last13=Lai |first13=Xulong |last14=Mackie |first14=Quentin |last15=Vasiliev |first15=Sergei |date=December 2022 |title=Lions and brown bears colonized North America in multiple synchronous waves of dispersal across the Bering Land Bridge |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.16267 |journal=Molecular Ecology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=24 |pages=6407–6421 |bibcode=2022MolEc..31.6407S |doi=10.1111/mec.16267 |issn=0962-1083 |pmid=34748674 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11343/299180}}</ref> A fossil from [[Edmonton]] dates to 11,355 ± 55 years ago.<ref name="King2013">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/08912963.2013.861462 |title=Phylogenetics of ''Panthera'', including ''Panthera atrox'', based on craniodental characters |journal=[[Historical Biology]] |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=827–833 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265790587 |date=2014 |last1=King |first1=L. M. |last2=Wallace |first2=S. C. |bibcode=2014HBio...26..827K |s2cid=84229141 }}</ref>


===Evolution===
Lions have been known to [[biological reproduction|breed]] with [[tiger]]s (most often the [[Siberian Tiger|Siberian]] and [[Bengal Tiger|Bengal]] subspecies) to create hybrids<!-- is hybrid the appropriate term, are they infertile? --> called [[liger]]s and [[tiglon]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Guggisberg |first=C. A. W. |title=Wild Cats of the World |year=1975 |publisher=Taplinger Publishing |location=New York |isbn=0-8008-8324-1 }}</ref> They also have been crossed with [[leopards]] to produce [[leopon]]s,<ref>{{cite book |author=Doi H, Reynolds B |title=The Story of Leopons |year=1967 |publisher=Putnam |location=New York |oclc=469041 <!--Too old for ISBN-->}}</ref> and [[jaguar]]s to produce [[Panthera hybrid#Jaglion|jaglions]]. The [[marozi]] is reputedly a spotted lion or a naturally occurring leopon, while the [[Congolese Spotted Lion]] is a complex lion-jaguar-leopard hybrid called a '''lijagulep'''. Such hybrids once commonly were bred in zoos, but this is now discouraged due to the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in [[China]].


[[File:Cave lion range.png|thumb|red ''[[Panthera spelaea]]''{{break}}blue ''[[Panthera atrox]]''{{break}}green ''Panthera leo''{{break}}{{break}}Maximal range of the modern lion{{break}}and its prehistoric relatives{{break}}in the late Pleistocene]]
The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress.<ref name="liger">{{cite book| last=Markel |first=Scott| coauthors= Darryl León| year= 2003 |title=Sequence Analysis in a Nutshell: a guide to common tools and databases | publisher= O'Reily |location=Sebastopol, California |isbn=0-596-00494-X}}</ref> Because the growth-inhibiting gene from the female tiger is absent, a growth-promoting gene is passed on by the male lion, the resulting ligers grow far larger than either parent. They share physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species (spots and stripes on a sandy background). Male ligers are sterile, but female ligers are often fertile. Males have about a 50 percent chance of having a mane, but if they grow one, their manes will be modest: around 50 percent of a pure lion mane. Ligers are typically between 3.0 and 3.7&nbsp;m (10 to 12 feet) in length, and can be between 360 and 450&nbsp;kg (800 to 1,000 pounds) or more.<ref name="liger" /> The less common tigon is a cross between the lioness and the male tiger.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001344/tigon|title= tigon - Encyclopædia Britannica Article|accessdate=12 September 2007}}</ref> <!--(commented out - not really necessary - can reinsert when ref arises) Because the male tiger does not pass on a growth-promoting gene and the lioness passes on a growth inhibiting gene, tigons are often relatively small, only weighing up to 150 kilograms (350 lb),{{Fact|date=August 2007}} which is about 20 percent smaller than lions. As with ligers, they have physical and behavioural traits from both parental species and males are sterile.-->


The ''Panthera'' [[Lineage (evolution)|lineage]] is estimated to have [[Genetic divergence|genetically diverged]] from the [[common ancestor]] of the [[Felidae]] around {{Ma|9.32|4.47|million years ago}} to {{Ma|11.75|0.97|million years ago}}.<ref name="Johnson2006">{{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=W. E. |last2=Eizirik |first2=E. |last3=Pecon-Slattery |first3=J. |last4=Murphy |first4=W. J. |last5=Antunes |first5=A. |last6=Teeling |first6=E. |last7=O'Brien |first7=S. J. |title=The late miocene radiation of modern Felidae: A genetic assessment |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=311 |issue=5757 |pages=73–77 |date=2006 |pmid=16400146 |doi=10.1126/science.1122277 |bibcode=2006Sci...311...73J |s2cid=41672825 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 |access-date=22 August 2020 |archive-date=4 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004075725/https://zenodo.org/record/1230866 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Werdelin2010">{{cite book |last1=Werdelin |first1=L. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=N. |last3=Johnson |first3=W. E. |last4=O'Brien |first4=S. J. |chapter=Phylogeny and evolution of cats (Felidae) |date=2010 |pages=59–82 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-19-923445-5 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |editor1-last=Macdonald |editor1-first=D. W. |editor2-last=Loveridge |editor2-first=A. J. |title=Biology and Conservation of Wild Felids |access-date=10 February 2019 |archive-date=25 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180925141956/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266755142 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Li_al2016>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=G. |last2=Davis |first2=B. W. |last3=Eizirik |first3=E. |last4=Murphy |first4=W. J. |date=2016 |title=Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae) |journal=Genome Research |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1101/gr.186668.114 |pmid=26518481 |pmc=4691742}}</ref> Results of analyses differ in the phylogenetic relationship of the lion; it was thought to form a [[sister group]] with the [[jaguar]] that diverged {{Ma|3.46|1.22|million years ago}},<ref name=Johnson2006/> but also with the [[leopard]] that diverged {{Ma|3.1|1.95|million years ago}}<ref name="davis2010">{{cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=B. W. |last2=Li |first2=G. |last3=Murphy |first3=W. J. |title=Supermatrix and species tree methods resolve phylogenetic relationships within the big cats, ''Panthera'' (Carnivora: Felidae) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |year=2010 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=64–76 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.036 |pmid=20138224 |bibcode=2010MolPE..56...64D |url=https://www.academia.edu/12157986 |access-date=25 August 2019 |archive-date=21 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121100453/https://www.academia.edu/12157986 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="mazak2011">{{cite journal |last1=Mazák|first1=J. H. |last2=Christiansen |first2=P. |last3=Kitchener |first3=A. C. |last4=Goswami |first4=A. |title=Oldest known pantherine skull and evolution of the tiger |journal=PLOS ONE |year=2011 |volume=6 |issue=10 |page=e25483 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0025483 |pmid=22016768 |pmc=3189913|bibcode=2011PLoSO...625483M|doi-access=free }}</ref> to {{Ma|4.32|0.02|million years ago}}. [[Hybrid (biology)|Hybridisation]] between lion and [[snow leopard]] ancestors possibly continued until about 2.1 million years ago.<ref name=Li_al2016/> The lion-leopard clade was distributed in the Asian and African [[Palearctic]] since at least the early [[Pliocene]].<ref name=Tseng2014>{{cite journal |author1=Tseng, Z. J. |author2=Wang, X. |author3=Slater, G. J. |author4=Takeuchi, G. T. |author5=Li, Q. |author6=Liu, J. |author7=Xie, G. |date=2014 |title=Himalayan fossils of the oldest known pantherine establish ancient origin of big cats |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=281 |issue=1774 |page=20132686 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.2686|pmid=24225466 |pmc=3843846 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The earliest fossils recognisable as lions were found at [[Olduvai Gorge]] in Tanzania and are estimated to be up to 2 million years old.<ref name="Werdelin2010"/>
==Physical characteristics==
[[Image:Panthera leo Kruger Skull.jpg|thumb|left|Skull of a modern lion at [[Kruger National Park]]]]
The lion is the tallest (at the shoulder) of the felines, and also is the second-heaviest feline after the [[tiger]]. With powerful legs, a strong [[jaw]], and {{convert|8|cm|in|abbr=on}} long canine [[teeth]], the lion can bring down and kill large prey.<ref name=Honolulu>{{cite web |url=http://www.honoluluzoo.org/lion.htm |title=Lion |accessdate=2007-07-12 |publisher=Honolulu Zoo}}</ref> The skull of the lion is very similar to that of the tiger, though the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened, with a slightly shorter postorbital region. The lion's skull has broader nasal openings than the tiger. However, due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually, only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.<ref name="USSR">{{cite book | author = V.G Heptner & A.A. Sludskii | title = Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 | year = 1992| pages = | isbn = 9004088768 | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden u.a.}}</ref> Lion coloration varies from light buff to yellowish, reddish, or dark ochraceous brown. The underparts are generally lighter and the tail tuft is black. Lion cubs are born with brown rosettes (spots) on their body, rather like those of a leopard. Although these fade as lions reach adulthood, faint spots often may still be seen on the legs and underparts, particularly on lionesses.


Estimates for the divergence time of the modern and cave lion lineages range from 529,000 to 392,000 years ago based on [[mutation rate]] per generation time of the modern lion. There is no evidence for [[gene flow]] between the two lineages, indicating that they did not share the same geographic area.<ref name="DeManuel_al2020" /> The Eurasian and American cave lions became extinct at the end of the [[last glacial period]] without [[Mitochondrion|mitochondrial]] descendants on other continents.<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny"/><ref name=Barnett>{{Cite journal |last1=Barnett |first1=R. |last2=Shapiro |first2=B. |author-link2=Beth Shapiro |last3=Barnes |first3=I. |last4=Ho |first4=S. Y. W. |last5=Burger |first5=J. |author-link5=Joachim Burger |last6=Yamaguchi |first6=N. |last7=Higham |first7=T. F. G. |last8=Wheeler |first8=H. T. |title=Phylogeography of lions (''Panthera leo'' ssp.) reveals three distinct taxa and a late Pleistocene reduction in genetic diversity |journal=[[Molecular Ecology]] |date=2009 |volume=18 |issue=8 |pages=1668–1677 |pmid=19302360 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04134.x |first9=W. |last9=Rosendahl |last10=Sher |first10=A. V. |last11=Sotnikova |first11=M. |last12=Kuznetsova |first12=T. |last13=Baryshnikov |first13=G. F. |last14=Martin |first14=L. D. |last15=Harington |first15=C. R. |last16=Burns |first16=J. A. |last17=Cooper |first17=A. |bibcode=2009MolEc..18.1668B |s2cid=46716748 |url=http://www.zin.ru/Labs/theriology/eng/staff/baryshnikov/references/barnett_et_al_2009.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808225555/http://www.zin.ru/labs/theriology/eng/staff/baryshnikov/references/barnett_et_al_2009.pdf |archive-date=8 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Argant, A. |author2=Brugal, J.-P. |year=2017|title=The cave lion ''Panthera (Leo) spelaea'' and its evolution: ''Panthera spelaea intermedia'' nov. subspecies |journal=Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=58–103 |doi=10.3409/azc.60_2.59 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The modern lion was probably widely distributed in Africa during the [[Middle Pleistocene]] and started to diverge in sub-Saharan Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Lion populations in East and Southern Africa became separated from populations in West and North Africa when the equatorial rainforest expanded 183,500 to 81,800 years ago.<ref name=Barnett_al2014>{{cite journal |author1=Barnett, R. |author2=Yamaguchi, N. |author3=Shapiro, B. |author4=Ho, S. Y. |author5=Barnes, I. |author6=Sabin, R. |author7=Werdelin, L. |author8=Cuisin, J. |author9=Larson, G. |year=2014 |title=Revealing the maternal demographic history of ''Panthera leo'' using ancient DNA and a spatially explicit genealogical analysis |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=14 |issue=1 |page=70 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-70|pmid=24690312 |pmc=3997813 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014BMCEE..14...70B }}</ref> They shared a common ancestor probably between 98,000 and 52,000 years ago.<ref name="DeManuel_al2020" /> Due to the expansion of the Sahara between 83,100 and 26,600 years ago, lion populations in West and North Africa became separated. As the rainforest decreased and thus gave rise to more open habitats, lions moved from West to Central Africa. Lions from North Africa dispersed to southern Europe and Asia between 38,800 and 8,300 years ago.<ref name=Barnett_al2014/>
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 specialized roles that each gender plays in the pride. For instance, the lioness, the hunter, lacks the male's thick cumbersome mane. It seems to impede the male's ability to be camouflaged when stalking the prey and create overheating in chases. The color of the male's mane varies from blond to black, generally becoming darker as the lion grows older.


Extinction of lions in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East interrupted gene flow between lion populations in Asia and Africa. Genetic evidence revealed numerous [[mutation]]s in lion samples from East and Southern Africa, which indicates that this group has a longer evolutionary history than genetically less diverse lion samples from Asia and West and Central Africa.<ref name=Bertola2011>{{Cite journal |last1=Bertola |first1=L. D. |last2=Van Hooft |first2=W. F. |last3=Vrieling |first3=K. |last4=Uit De Weerd |first4=D. R. |last5=York |first5=D. S. |last6=Bauer |first6=H. |last7=Prins |first7=H. H. T. |last8=Funston |first8=P. J. |last9=Udo De Haes |first9=H. A. |last10=Leirs |first10=H. |last11=Van Haeringen |first11=W. A. |last12=Sogbohossou |first12=E. |last13=Tumenta |first13=P. N. |last14=De Iongh |first14=H. H. |year=2011 |title=Genetic diversity, evolutionary history and implications for conservation of the lion (''Panthera leo'') in West and Central Africa |journal=Journal of Biogeography |volume=38 |issue=7 |pages=1356–1367 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02500.x|bibcode=2011JBiog..38.1356B |s2cid=82728679 }}</ref> A whole genome-wide sequence of lion samples showed that samples from West Africa shared [[alleles]] with samples from Southern Africa, and samples from Central Africa shared alleles with samples from Asia. This phenomenon indicates that Central Africa was a melting pot of lion populations after they had become isolated, possibly migrating through corridors in the [[Nile Basin]] during the early [[Holocene]].<ref name="DeManuel_al2020" />
[[Image:HansomeLion 002.jpg|thumb|During confrontations with others, the mane makes the lion look larger]]
Weights for adult lions range between 150–250&nbsp;kg (330–550&nbsp;lb) for males and 120–182&nbsp;kg (264–400&nbsp;lb) for females.<ref name="nowak">{{cite book |last=Nowak |first= Ronald M. |year=1999 |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-5789-9}}</ref> Nowell and Jackson report average weights of 181&nbsp;kg for males and 126&nbsp;kg for females; one male shot near [[Mount Kenya]] was weighed at 272&nbsp;kg (600&nbsp;lb).<ref name="CAP"/> Lions tend to vary in size depending on their environment and area, resulting in a wide spread in recorded weights. For instance, lions in [[southern Africa]] tend to be about 5 percent heavier than those in [[East Africa]], in general.<ref>Scott, Jonathon; Scott, Angela. (2002) ''Big Cat Diary: Lion'', p. 80</ref>


===Hybrids===
Head and body length is 170–250&nbsp;cm (5&nbsp;ft 7&nbsp;in&nbsp;– 8&nbsp;ft 2&nbsp;in) in males and 140–175&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;ft 7&nbsp;in – 5&nbsp;ft 9&nbsp;in) in females; shoulder height is about 123&nbsp;cm (4&nbsp;ft) in males and 107&nbsp;cm (3&nbsp;ft 6&nbsp;in) in females. The tail length is 90–105&nbsp;cm (2&nbsp;ft 11 in - 3&nbsp;ft 5 in) in males and 70–100&nbsp;cm in females (2&nbsp;ft 4&nbsp;in – 3&nbsp;ft 3&nbsp;in).<ref name="nowak"/> The longest known lion was a black-maned male shot near Mucsso, southern [[Angola]] in October 1973; the heaviest known lion was a man-eater shot in 1936 just outside Hectorspruit in eastern [[Transvaal Province|Transvaal]], [[South Africa]] and weighed 313&nbsp;kg (690&nbsp;lb).<ref>Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), ISBN 0-85112-235-9</ref> Lions in captivity tend to be larger than lions in the wild—the heaviest lion on record is a male at Colchester Zoo in England named Simba in 1970, which weighed 375&nbsp;kg (826&nbsp;lb).<ref>[http://www.junglephotos.com/africa/afanimals/mammals/lionnathist.shtml Jungle Photos Africa Animals mammals - lion natural history] Wood, G. 1983. The Guinness book of animal facts and feats. Sterling Pub. Co. Inc. 3rd. edition. 256 pp.</ref>


{{Further|Panthera hybrid}}
[[Image:Lion and eland.jpg|thumb|A Skeletal Mount of an African Lion Attacking a [[Common Eland]] on Display at [[The Museum of Osteology]], [[Oklahoma City, Oklahoma]]]]


In zoos, lions have been bred with [[tiger]]s to create hybrids for the curiosity of visitors or for scientific purpose.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pocock, R. I. |year=1898 |title=Lion-Tiger Hybrid |journal=Nature |volume=58 |issue=1496 |page=200 |doi=10.1038/058200b0 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1889713 |bibcode=1898Natur..58Q.200P |s2cid=4056029 |doi-access=free |access-date=7 December 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326042949/https://zenodo.org/record/1889713 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Benirschke, K. |title=Comparative Aspects of Reproductive Failure |chapter=Sterility and Fertility of Interspecific Mammalian Hybrids |pages=218–234 |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |year=1967 |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-48949-5_12 |isbn=978-3-642-48949-5}}</ref> The [[liger]] is bigger than a lion and a tiger, whereas most [[tigon]]s are relatively small compared to their parents because of reciprocal gene effects.<ref name="shi">{{cite thesis |last=Shi |first=W. |year=2005 |title=Growth and Behaviour: Epigenetic and Genetic Factors Involved in Hybrid Dysgenesis |type=PhD |series=Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology |publisher=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis |location=Uppsala |chapter=Hybrid dysgenesis effects |pages=8–10 |chapter-url=http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:165749/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190518050521/http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:165749/FULLTEXT01.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2019 |url-status=live|url=http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-4784 }}</ref><ref name="Carnivores">{{Cite book |last1=Rafferty |first1=J. P. |title=Carnivores: Meat-eating Mammals |date=2011 |location=New York |publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-61530-340-3 |chapter=The Liger |page=120 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EMui7zVOqeUC&pg=PA120 |access-date=4 July 2014 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505150613/https://books.google.com/books?id=EMui7zVOqeUC&pg=PA120#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[leopon]] is a hybrid between a lion and leopard.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Zhang, Z. |author2=Chen, J. |author3=Li, L. |author4=Tao, M. |author5=Zhang, C. |author6=Qin, Q. |author7=Xiao, J. |author8=Liu, Y. |author9=Liu, S. |title=Research advances in animal distant hybridization |year=2014 |journal=Science China Life Sciences |volume=57 |issue=9 |pages=889–902 |doi=10.1007/s11427-014-4707-1 |pmid=25091377 |s2cid=18179301 |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11427-014-4707-1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030104852/https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs11427-014-4707-1.pdf |archive-date=30 October 2018 |url-status=live|doi-access=free }}</ref>
The most distinctive characteristic shared by both females and males is that the tail ends in a hairy tuft. In some lions, the tuft conceals a hard "spine" or "spur", approximately 5&nbsp;mm long, formed of the final sections of tail bone fused together. The lion is the only felid to have a tufted tail—the function of the tuft and spine are unknown. Absent at birth, the tuft develops around 5½&nbsp;months of age and is readily identifiable at 7&nbsp;months.<ref name="Schaller28">Schaller, p. 28</ref>


===Mane===
==Description==
{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical
[[Image:wiki lion.jpg|thumb|left|[[Thermography|Thermographic]] image of a lion, showing the insulating mane]]
|image1=Lioness 12.jpg|caption1=A tuft at the end of the tail is a distinct characteristic of the lion.
The mane of the adult male lion, unique among cats, is one of the most distinctive characteristics of the species. It makes the lion appear larger, providing an excellent intimidation display; this aids the lion during confrontations with other lions and with the species' chief competitor in Africa, the [[spotted hyena]].<ref>
|image2=Description iconographique comparée du squelette et du système dentaire des mammifères récents et fossiles (Panthera leo).jpg|caption2=Skeleton}}
{{cite web | last=Trivedi | first=Bijal P. | title=Are Maneless Tsavo Lions Prone to Male Pattern Baldness? | publisher=National Geographic | year=2005 | url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0412_020412_TVtsavolions.html | accessdate=2007-07-07}}</ref> The presence, absence, color, 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.<ref name="Trivedi02">{{cite web | last=Trivedi | first =Bijal P. | title=Female Lions Prefer Dark-Maned Males, Study Finds | work=National Geographic News | publisher=National Geographic | date=22 August 2002 | url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0822_020822_TVlion.html| accessdate= 2007-09-01}}</ref> Research in [[Tanzania]] also suggests mane length signals fighting success in male-male relationships. Darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest months of the year.<ref name=West>{{cite journal |last=West |first=Peyton M. |coauthors=Packer, Craig |year=2002 |month=August |title=Sexual Selection, Temperature, and the Lion's Mane |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=297 |issue=5585 |pages= 1339–43 |doi=10.1126/science.1073257 |pmid=12193785}}</ref> In prides including a coalition of two or three males, it is possible that lionesses solicit mating more actively with the males who are more heavily maned.<ref name="Trivedi02"/>
[[Image:Maneless lion from Tsavo East National Park.png|thumb|A [[Tsavo lion|maneless male lion]], who also has little body hair—from Tsavo East National Park, Kenya]]
[[Image:Color Lion Plate East Africa comparison.jpg|thumb|left|A colour plate displaying mane variations of lions in East Africa]]


The lion is a muscular, broad-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck, and round ears; males have broader heads. The fur varies in colour from light [[Buff (colour)|buff]] to silvery grey, yellowish red, and dark brown. The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. A new-born lion has dark [[Rosette (zoology)|spots]], which fade as the cub reaches adulthood, although faint spots may still be seen on the legs and underparts.<ref name=Guggisberg1975/><ref name=Haas2005>{{cite journal |author1=Haas, S. K. |author2=Hayssen, V. |author3=Krausman, P. R. |title=''Panthera leo'' |year=2005 |journal=Mammalian Species |volume=762 |pages=1–11 |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/762_Panthera_leo.pdf |doi=10.1644/1545-1410(2005)762[0001:PL]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=198968757 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728131140/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/762_Panthera_leo.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2017}}</ref> The tail of all lions ends in a dark, hairy tuft that, in some lions, conceals an approximately {{cvt|5|mm}}-long, hard "spine" or "spur" composed of dermal papillae.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Turner |first=W.C. |date=July 1873 |title=On the So-Called Prickle or Claw at the End of the Tail of the Lion and Other Felines |url=https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC1318943&blobtype=pdf |journal=Journal of Anatomy and Physiology |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=271–273 |pmid=17230977}}</ref> The functions of the spur are unknown. The tuft is absent at birth and develops at around {{frac|5|1|2}} months of age. It is readily identifiable at the age of seven months.<ref name="Schaller28">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 28–30.</ref>
Scientists once believed that the distinct status of some subspecies could be justified by [[morphology (biology)|morphology]], including the size of the mane. Morphology was used to identify subspecies such as the [[Barbary Lion]] and [[Cape Lion]]. Research has suggested, however, that environmental factors influence the color and size of a lion's mane, such as the [[room temperature|ambient temperature]].<ref name=West/> The cooler ambient temperature in European and North American [[zoo]]s, for example, may result in a heavier mane. Thus the mane is not an appropriate marker for identifying subspecies.<ref name="Conservation-Genetics:Preserving-Genetic-Diversity">{{cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Ross |coauthors=Nobuyuki Yamaguchi, Ian Barnes and Alan Cooper |month=August |year=2006 |title=Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion ''Panthera leo'': Implications for its ''ex situ'' conservation |journal=Conservation Genetics |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=507–514 |doi=10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0}} <!-- url not accessible at the moment http://abc.zoo.ox.ac.uk/Papers/consgen06_lion.pdf--></ref><ref name="yamaguchi-haddane">{{cite journal |last=Yamaguchi |first=Nobuyuki |coauthors=B. Haddane |year=2002 |title=The North African Barbary lion and the Atlas Lion Project |journal=International Zoo News |volume=49 |pages=465–481}}</ref> The males of the Asiatic subspecies, however, are characterized by sparser manes than average African lions.<ref name="Menon">{{cite book |last=Menon |first=Vivek |year=2003 |title=A Field Guide to Indian Mammals |location=Delhi |publisher=Dorling Kindersley India |isbn=0-14-302998-3| pages=}}</ref>


Its skull is very similar to that of the tiger, although the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened and has a slightly shorter [[postorbital]] region and broader nasal openings than those of the tiger. Due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.<ref name=Pocock1939>{{cite book |author=Pocock, R. I. |year=1939 |title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma |volume=((Mammalia. Volume 1)) |publisher=Taylor and Francis Ltd. |location=London |chapter=''Panthera leo'' |pages=212–222 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/PocockMammalia1/pocock1#page/n261/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name=USSR>{{Cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |last2=Sludskii |first2=A. A. |orig-date=1972 |year=1992 |title=Mlekopitajuščie Sovetskogo Soiuza. Moskva: Vysšaia Škola |trans-title=Mammals of the Soviet Union, Volume II, Part 2 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation |location=Washington DC |chapter=Lion |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/mammalsofsov221992gept#page/82/mode/2up |pages=83–95 |isbn=978-90-04-08876-4}}</ref>
Maneless male lions have been reported in [[Senegal]] and [[Tsavo East National Park]] in Kenya, and the original male white lion from Timbavati also was maneless. [[castration|Castrated]] lions have minimal manes. The lack of a mane sometimes is found in inbred lion populations; inbreeding also results in poor fertility.<ref>{{cite web | last=Trivedi | first =Bijal P. | title=To Boost Gene Pool, Lions Artificially Inseminated | work=National Geographic News | publisher=National Geographic | date=12 June 2002 | url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0612_020612_TVlion.html| accessdate= 2007-09-20}}</ref>


The skeletal muscles of the lion make up 58.8% of its body weight and represent the highest percentage of muscles among mammals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davis |first=D. D. |date=1962 |title=Allometric relationships in Lions vs. Domestic Cats |journal=Evolution |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=505–514 |doi=10.1111/j.1558-5646.1962.tb03240.x |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Calder |first=W. A. |chapter=Skeletal muscle |pages=17–21 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-iBS6-2OO3wC&pg=PA19 |title=Size, Function, and Life History |date=1996 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-69191-6 |access-date=21 July 2021 |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305201618/https://books.google.com/books?id=-iBS6-2OO3wC&pg=PA19#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> The lion has a high concentration of [[fast twitch muscle]] fibres, giving them quick bursts of speed but less stamina.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kohn |first1=T. A. |last2=Burroughs |first2=R. |last3=Hartman |first3=M. J. |last4=Noakes |first4=T. D. |date=2011 |title=Fiber type and metabolic characteristics of lion (''Panthera leo''), Caracal (''Caracal caracal'') and human skeletal muscle |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/2263/19598/1/Kohn_Fiber%282011%29.pdf |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology |volume=159 |issue=2 |pages=125–133 |doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2011.02.006 |pmid=21320626 |hdl=2263/19598}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=B. |last2=Garcia |first2=M. E. |last3=Shea-Shumsky |first3=N. B. |last4=Tennison |first4=M. E. |last5=Schall |first5=M. |last6=Saviano |first6=M. S. |last7=Tummino |first7=T. A. |last8=Bull |first8=A. J. |last9=Driscoll |first9=L. L. |last10=Raghanti |first10=M. A. |last11=Lewandowski |first11=A. H. |last12=Wicinski |first12=B. |last13=Ki Chui |first13=H. |last14=Bertelsen |first14=M. F. |last15=Walsh |first15=T. |date=2018 |title=Comparative morphology of gigantopyramidal neurons in primary motor cortex across mammals |journal=Journal of Comparative Neurology |volume=526 |issue=3 |pages=496–536 |doi=10.1002/cne.24349 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320596823}}</ref>
[[Image:Lightmatter lioness.jpg|thumb|Lioness showing the ruff that sometimes leads to misidentification as a male]]
Many lionesses have a ruff that may be apparent in certain poses. Sometimes it is indicated in sculptures and drawings, especially ancient artwork, and is misinterpreted as a male mane. It differs from a mane, however, in being at the jaw line below the ears, of much less hair length, and frequently not noticeable, whereas a mane extends above the ears of males, often obscuring their outline entirely.


===Size===
[[Cave painting]]s of extinct European [[Cave Lion]]s exclusively show animals with no mane, or just the hint of a mane, suggesting that they were maneless;<ref name="Koenigswald02">{{de icon}} {{cite book |last=Koenigswald |first=Wighart von |year=2002 |title=Lebendige Eiszeit: Klima und Tierwelt im Wandel |location=Stuttgart |publisher=Theiss |isbn=3-8062-1734-3| pages=}}</ref>.
Among felids, the lion is second only to the tiger in size.<ref name=Haas2005/> The size and weight of adult lions vary across its range and habitats.<ref name=Smuts_etal_1980>{{Cite journal |last=Smuts|first=G. L. |author2=Robinson, G. A. |author3=Whyte, I. J. |title=Comparative growth of wild male and female lions (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Journal of Zoology |year=1980 |volume=190 |issue=3 |pages=365–373 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1980.tb01433.x}}</ref><ref name=Chellam1993>{{cite book |author=Chellam, R. |author2= Johnsingh, A. J. T. |year=1993 |chapter=Management of Asiatic lions in the Gir Forest, India |pages=409–423 |title=Mammals as predators: the proceedings of a symposium held by the Zoological Society of London and the Mammal Society, London. Volume 65 of Symposia of the Zoological Society of London |editor1-last=Dunstone |editor1-first=N. |editor2-last=Gorman |editor2-first=M. L. |publisher=Zoological Society of London |location=London}}</ref><ref name=BCKM1993>{{cite book |author=Brakefield, T. |chapter=Lion: Sociable Simba |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=szBm5kPeC-cC&pg=PA50 |pages=50–67 |title=Big Cats: Kingdom of Might |publisher=Voyageur Press |location=London |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-89658-329-0 |access-date=1 November 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414114707/https://books.google.com/books?id=szBm5kPeC-cC&pg=PA50 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=nowak>{{Cite book |last=Nowak |first=R. M. |year=1999 |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |location=Baltimore |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |chapter=''Panthera leo'' |pages=832–834 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T37sFCl43E8C&pg=PR832 |isbn=978-0-8018-5789-8}}</ref> Accounts of a few individuals that were larger than average exist from Africa and India.<ref name=Guggisberg1975/><ref name=CAP>{{Cite book |last1=Nowell |first1=K. |last2=Jackson |first2=P. |title=Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan |url=http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050529182212/http://carnivoractionplans1.free.fr/wildcats.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2005 |url-status=live |year=1996 |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group |location=Gland, Switzerland |isbn=978-2-8317-0045-8 |pages=17–21; 37–41 |chapter=African lion, ''Panthera leo'' (Linnaeus, 1758); Asiatic lion, ''Panthera leo persica'' (Meyer, 1826)}}</ref><ref name="Smuts et al., 1982">{{cite book |author=Smuts, G. L. |year=1982 |title=Lion |location=Johannesburg, South Africa |publisher=MacMillan }}</ref><ref name=Sinha1987>{{cite thesis |author=Sinha, S. P. |year=1987 |title=Ecology of wildlife with special reference to the lion (''Panthera leo persica'') in Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, Saurashtra, Gujurat |type=PhD |publisher=Saurashtra University |location=Rajkot |isbn=978-3844305456}}</ref>


{| class="wikitable"
===White lions===
! Average !!Female lions !!Male lions
[[Image:White Lion.jpg|thumb|right|[[White lion]]s owe their coloring to a recessive gene; they are rare forms of the subspecies ''Panthera leo krugeri'']]
|-
The [[white lion]] is not a distinct subspecies, but a special [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]] with a genetic condition, [[leucism]],<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia"/> that causes paler colouration akin to that of the [[white tiger]]; the condition is similar to [[melanism]], which causes [[black panther]]s. They are not albinos, having normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White Transvaal lion ''(Panthera leo krugeri)'' individuals occasionally have been encountered in and around [[Kruger National Park]] and the adjacent [[Timbavati Private Game Reserve]] in eastern South Africa, but are more commonly found in [[captivity (animal)|captivity]], where breeders deliberately select them. The unusual cream color of their coats is due to a [[recessive gene]].<ref>{{cite book |last=McBride |first=Chris |title=The White Lions of Timbavati |year=1977 |publisher=E. Stanton |location=Johannesburg |isbn= 0-949997-32-3 }}</ref> Reportedly, they have been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies to be killed during [[canned hunt]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker|first=Linda |title=Mystery of the White Lions—Children of the Sun God|year=2003 |publisher=Npenvu Press|location=Mapumulanga |isbn= 0-620-31409-5}}</ref>
|Head-and-body length
||{{cvt|160|-|184|cm}}<ref name=West2013>{{cite book |last1=West |first1=P. M. |last2=Packer |first2=C. |chapter=''Panthera leo'' Lion |pages=150–159 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_07noCPc4kC&pg=RA4-PA150 |editor1=Kingdon, J. |editor2=Happold, D. |editor3=Butynski, T. |editor4=Hoffmann, M. |editor5=Happold, M. |editor6=Kalina, J. |title=Mammals of Africa |year=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-4081-8996-2}}</ref>
||{{cvt|184|-|208|cm}}<ref name=West2013/>
|-
|Tail length
||{{cvt|72|-|89.5|cm}}<ref name=West2013/>
||{{cvt|82.5|-|93.5|cm}}<ref name=West2013/>
|-
|Weight
||{{cvt|118.37|-|143.52|kg}} in Southern Africa,<ref name=Smuts_etal_1980/>{{break}}{{cvt|119.5|kg}} in East Africa,<ref name=Smuts_etal_1980/>{{break}}{{cvt|110|-|120|kg}} in India<ref name=Chellam1993/>
||{{cvt|186.55|-|225|kg}} in Southern Africa,<ref name=Smuts_etal_1980/>{{break}}{{cvt|174.9|kg}} in East Africa,<ref name=Smuts_etal_1980/>{{break}}{{cvt|160|-|190|kg}} in India<ref name=Chellam1993/>
|}


===Mane===
Confirmation of the existence of white lions only came in the late twentieth century. For hundreds of years prior, the white lion had been thought to be a figment of legend circulating in South Africa, the white [[pelage]] of the animal said to represent the goodness in all creatures. Sightings were first reported in the early 1900s, and continued, infrequently, for almost fifty years until, in 1975, a litter of white lion cubs was found at Timbavati Game Reserve.<ref name="whitelion">[http://www.lairweb.org.nz/tiger/lions.html The rare white lions] Retrieved on 20 September 2007.</ref>
{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical |image1=Lion (Panthera leo) male 6y.jpg|caption1=A six-year-old male in [[Phinda Private Game Reserve]] |image2=Lion au repos parc pendjari.jpg|caption2=Young male in Pendjari National Park}}
The male lion's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species.<ref name=Hemmer>{{cite journal |author=Hemmer, H. |year=1974 |title=Untersuchungen zur Stammesgeschichte der Pantherkatzen (''Pantherinae'') Teil 3. Zur Artgeschichte des Löwen ''Panthera (Panthera) leo'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |journal=Veröffentlichungen der Zoologischen Staatssammlung |volume=17| pages=167–280 |url=https://archive.org/stream/verfentlichungen171974zool#page/178/mode/2up}}</ref> It may have evolved around 320,000–190,000 years ago.<ref name=Yamaguchietal2004Mane>{{Cite journal |last1=Yamaguchi |first1=N. |last2=Cooper |first2=A. |last3=Werdelin |first3=L. |last4=MacDonald |first4=D. W. |date=2004 |title=Evolution of the mane and group-living in the lion (''Panthera leo''): a review |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=263 |issue=4 |pages=329–342 |doi=10.1017/S0952836904005242}}</ref> It grows downwards and backwards, covering most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust, and black hairs.<ref name=Haas2005/> Mutations in the genes [[microphthalmia-associated transcription factor]] and [[tyrosinase]] are possibly responsible for the colour of manes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tefera |first=M. |date=2003 |title=Phenotypic and reproductive characteristics of lions (''Panthera leo'') at Addis Ababa Zoo |journal=Biodiversity & Conservation |volume=12 |issue=8 |pages=1629–1639 |doi=10.1023/A:1023641629538|bibcode=2003BiCon..12.1629T }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Barazandeh |first1=M. |last2=Kriti |first2=D. |last3=Fickel |first3=J. |last4=Nislow |first4=C. |date=2024 |title=The Addis Ababa Lions: Whole-genome sequencing of a rare and precious population |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |volume=16 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evae021 |pmc=10871700 |pmid=38302110}}</ref> It starts growing when lions enter adolescence, when [[testosterone]] levels increase, and reach their full size at around four years old.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], p. 148.</ref> Cool ambient temperatures in European and North American zoos may result in a heavier mane.<ref name=BarnettYamaguchi2006/> On average, Asiatic lions have sparser manes than African lions.<ref name=Menon>{{Cite book |last=Menon |first=V. |year=2003 |title=A Field Guide to Indian Mammals |location=New Delhi |publisher=Dorling Kindersley India |isbn=978-0-14-302998-4}}</ref>


This feature likely evolved to signal the [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] of males to females. Males with darker manes appear to have greater reproductive success and are more likely to remain in a pride for longer. They have longer and thicker hair and higher testosterone levels, but they are also more vulnerable to heat stress.<ref name=PeytonPacker1992>{{cite journal |last1=Peyton |first1=P. M. |last2=Packer |first2=C. |year=2002 |title=Sexual selection, temperature, and the lion's mane |journal=Science |volume=297 |issue=5585 |pages=1339–1343 |doi=10.1126/science.1073257 |pmid=12193785 |bibcode=2002Sci...297.1339W |s2cid=15893512}}</ref><ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 137, 145.</ref> The core body temperature does apparently not increase regardless of sex, season, feeding time, length and colour of mane, but only surface temperature is affected.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Trethowan |first1=P. |last2=Fuller |first2=A. |last3=Haw |first3=A. |last4=Hart |first4=T. |last5=Markham |first5=A. |last6=Loveridge |first6=A. |last7=Hetem |first7=R. |last8=du Preez |first8=B. |last9=Macdonald |first9=D. W. |date=2017 |title=Getting to the core: Internal body temperatures help reveal the ecological function and thermal implications of the lions' mane |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=253–262 |doi=10.1002/ece3.2556 |pmc=5214092 |pmid=28070288 |bibcode=2017EcoEv...7..253T}}</ref> Unlike in other felid species, female lions consistently interact with multiple males at once.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 145.</ref> Another hypothesis suggests that the mane also serves to protect the neck in fights, but this is disputed.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 360.</ref><ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 133.</ref> During fights, including those involving maneless females and adolescents, the neck is not targeted as much as the face, back, and hindquarters. Injured lions also begin to lose their manes.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 133, 137, 145, 148.</ref>
==Biology and behavior==
Lions spend much of their time resting and are inactive for about 20&nbsp;hours per day.<ref name="Schaller122">Schaller, p. 122</ref> Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socializing, grooming, and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity follow through the night hours until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and 50&nbsp;minutes eating.<ref name="Schaller120">Schaller, p. 120–121</ref>


Almost all male lions in [[Pendjari National Park]] are either maneless or have very short manes.<ref name=Schoeetal2010>{{cite book |author1=Schoe, M. |author2=Sogbohossou, E. A. |author3=Kaandorp, J. |author4=De Iongh, H. |title=Progress Report—collaring operation Pendjari Lion Project, Benin |publisher=The Dutch Zoo Conservation Fund (for funding the project) |year=2010}}</ref> [[Maneless lion]]s have also been reported in Senegal, in [[Sudan]]'s [[Dinder National Park]] and in [[Tsavo East National Park]], Kenya.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Trivedi |first=B. P. |title=Are maneless Tsavo Lions prone to male pattern baldness? |magazine=National Geographic |year=2005 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0412_020412_TVtsavolions.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020605184139/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/04/0412_020412_TVtsavolions.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 June 2002 |access-date=7 July 2007}}</ref> [[Castration|Castrated]] lions often have little to no mane because the removal of the [[gonad]]s inhibits testosterone production.<ref>{{Cite journal |first=L. |last=Munson |date=2006 |title=Contraception in felids |journal=Theriogenology |pmid=16626799 |volume=66 |issue=1 |pages=126–134 |doi=10.1016/j.theriogenology.2006.03.016}}</ref> Rarely, both wild and captive lionesses have manes.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Gruber |first=K. |date=2022 |access-date=19 November 2023 |title=Five wild lionesses grow a mane and start acting like males |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2106866-five-wild-lionesses-grow-a-mane-and-start-acting-like-males/ |magazine=New Scientist |archive-date=11 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240411033205/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2106866-five-wild-lionesses-grow-a-mane-and-start-acting-like-males/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Young |first=L. J. |date=2016 |access-date=19 November 2023 |title=The rare case of a lioness with a mane |url=https://www.popsci.com/science/zoo-lioness-mane/ |magazine=Popular Science |archive-date=19 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119185541/https://www.popsci.com/science/zoo-lioness-mane/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Increased testosterone may be the cause of maned lionesses reported in northern Botswana.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=National Geographic |last=Dell'Amore |first=C. |date=2016 |access-date=18 April 2016 |title=No, those aren't male lions mating. One is likely a female |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/160418-lions-mating-africa-animals-science|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228190519/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/160418-lions-mating-africa-animals-science|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2021}}</ref>
===Group organization===
Lions are predatory [[carnivore]]s who manifest two types of social organization. Some are ''residents,'' living in groups, called ''prides''.<ref name="Schaller33">Schaller, p. 33</ref> The pride usually consists of approximately five or six related females, their cubs of both sexes, and one or two males (known as a ''coalition'' if more than one) who mate with the adult females (although extremely large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed). The number of adult males in a coalition is usually two, but may increase to four and decrease again over time. Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity.
[[Image:pride leader.jpg|thumb|left|Mature male pride leader With two lionesses, northern Serengeti]]
[[Image:7 lions.jpg|thumb|left|A pride spotted along the road in the Masai Mara National Park in Kenya]]


===Colour variation===
The second organizational behaviour is labeled ''nomads'', who range widely and move about sporadically, either singularly or in pairs.<ref name="Schaller33"/> Pairs are more frequent among related males who have been excluded from their birth pride. Note that a lion may switch lifestyles; nomads may become residents and vice versa. Males have to go through this lifestyle and some never are able to join another pride. A female who becomes a nomad has much greater difficulty joining a new pride, as the females in a pride are related, and they reject most attempts by an unrelated female to join their family group.
{{Further|White lion}}
The white lion is a rare [[Polymorphism (biology)|morph]] with a genetic condition called [[leucism]], which is caused by a double [[recessive allele]]. It is not albino; it has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White lions have occasionally been encountered in and around [[Kruger National Park]] and the adjacent [[Timbavati Private Game Reserve]] in eastern South Africa. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion [[gene pool]]. Nevertheless, 17 births have been recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Turner|first1=J. A.|last2= Vasicek|first2=C. A. |last3= Somers |first3=M. J. |year=2015 |title=Effects of a colour variant on hunting ability: the white lion in South Africa |journal=Open Science Repository Biology |page=e45011830}}</ref> White lions are selected for breeding in captivity.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McBride |first=C. |title=The White Lions of Timbavati |year=1977 |publisher=E. Stanton |location=Johannesburg |isbn= 978-0-949997-32-6}}</ref> They have reportedly been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies to be killed during [[canned hunt]]s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tucker|first=L. |title=Mystery of the White Lions—Children of the Sun God |year=2003 |publisher=Npenvu Press |location=Mapumulanga |isbn=978-0-620-31409-1}}</ref>


==Distribution and habitat==
The area a pride occupies is called a ''pride area'', whereas that by a nomad is a ''range''.<ref name="Schaller33"/> The males associated with a pride tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling their territory. Why [[social behavior|sociality]]—the most pronounced in any cat species—has developed in lionesses is the subject of much debate. Increased hunting success appears an obvious reason, but this is less than sure upon examination: coordinated hunting does allow for more successful predation, but also ensures that non-hunting members reduce per capita caloric intake, however, some take a role raising cubs, who may be left alone for extended periods of time. Members of the pride regularly tend to play the same role in hunts. The health of the hunters is the primary need for the survival of the pride and they are the first to consume the prey at the site it is taken. Other benefits include possible [[kin selection]] (better to share food with a related lion than with a stranger), protection of the young, maintenance of territory, and individual insurance against injury and hunger.<ref name=CAP/>
[[File:Lions.Gir5.jpg|thumb|Lion in [[Gir National Park]], India]]
African lions live in scattered populations across sub-Saharan Africa. The lion prefers grassy plains and [[savannah]]s, scrub bordering rivers, and open woodlands with bushes. It rarely enters closed forests. On [[Mount Elgon]], the lion has been recorded up to an elevation of {{cvt|3600|m}} and close to the snow line on [[Mount Kenya]].<ref name=Guggisberg1975>{{Cite book |last=Guggisberg |first=C. A. W. |title=Wild Cats of the World |year=1975 |publisher=Taplinger Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8008-8324-9 |chapter=Lion ''Panthera leo'' (Linnaeus, 1758) |pages=138–179 |chapter-url=}}</ref> Savannahs with an annual rainfall of {{cvt|300|to|1500|mm}} make up the majority of lion habitat in Africa, estimated at {{cvt|3390821|km2}} at most, but remnant populations are also present in tropical moist forests in West Africa and [[Afromontane|montane]] forests in East Africa.<ref name=Riggio_al2013>{{cite journal |author=Riggio, J. |author2=Jacobson, A. |author3=Dollar, L. |author4=Bauer, H. |author5=Becker, M. |author6=Dickman, A. |author7=Funston, P. |author8=Groom, R. |author9=Henschel, P. |author10=de Iongh, H. |author11=Lichtenfeld, L. |author12=Pimm, S. |year=2013 |title=The size of savannah Africa: a lion's (''Panthera leo'') view |journal=Biodiversity Conservation |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=17–35|doi=10.1007/s10531-012-0381-4 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2013BiCon..22...17R }}</ref> The Asiatic lion now survives only in and around [[Gir National Park]] in Gujarat, western India. Its habitat is a mixture of dry savannah forest and very dry, deciduous [[scrub forest]].<ref name=Breitenmoser2008/>


===Historical range===
[[Image:Serengeti Lion Running saturated.jpg|thumb|left|Lioness in a burst of speed while hunting in the Serengeti]]
In Africa, the range of the lion originally spanned most of the central [[African rainforest]] zone and the [[Sahara]] desert.<ref name=Schaller5>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 5.</ref> In the 1960s, it became extinct in North Africa, except in the southern part of Sudan.<ref name=Chardonnet2002/><ref name=Riggio_al2013/><ref name=Black_al2013>{{cite journal |last1=Black |first1=S. A. |last2=Fellous |first2=A. |last3=Yamaguchi |first3=N. | last4=Roberts |first4=D. L. |year=2013 |title=Examining the Extinction of the Barbary Lion and Its Implications for Felid Conservation |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=4 |page=e60174 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0060174 |pmid=23573239 |pmc=3616087 |bibcode=2013PLoSO...860174B |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Lionesses do the majority of the hunting for their pride, being smaller, swifter and more agile than the males, and unencumbered by the heavy and conspicuous mane, which causes overheating during exertion. They act as a co-ordinated group in order to stalk and bring down the prey successfully. However, if nearby the hunt, males have a tendency to dominate the kill once the lionesses have succeeded and eaten. They are more likely to share with the cubs than with the lionesses, but rarely share food they have killed by themselves. Smaller prey is eaten at the location of the hunt, thereby being shared among the hunters; when the kill is larger it often is dragged to the pride area. There is more sharing of larger kills,<ref name="Schaller133">Schaller, p. 133</ref> although pride members often behave aggressively toward each other as each tries to consume as much food as possible.
Both males and females defend the pride against intruders. Some individual lions consistently lead the defense against intruders, while others lag behind.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Heinsohn|first= R. |coauthors= C. Packer|year=1995 |title=Complex cooperative strategies in group-territorial African lions |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5228 |pages=1260–1262 |doi=10.1126/science.7652573 |pmid=7652573}}</ref> Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride. Those lagging behind may provide other valuable services to the group.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morell|first= V. |year=1995 |title=Cowardly lions confound cooperation theory |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5228 |pages=1216–1217|doi=10.1126/science.7652566 |pmid=7652566}}</ref> An alternative hypothesis is that there is some reward associated with being a leader who fends off intruders and the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Jahn|first= Gary C. |year=1996 |title=Lioness Leadership |journal=Science |volume=271 |issue=5253 |page=1215 |doi=10.1126/science.271.5253.1215a |pmid=17820922 }}</ref> The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship to the pride from outside males who attempt to take over their relationship with the pride. Females form the stable [[social unit]] in a pride and do not tolerate outside females;<ref name="Schaller37">Schaller, p. 37</ref> membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses,<ref name="Schaller39">Schaller, p. 39</ref> although some females do leave and become nomadic.<ref name="Schaller44">Schaller, p. 44</ref> Subadult males on the other hand, must leave the pride when they reach maturity at around 2–3 years of age.<ref name="Schaller44"/>


During the mid-[[Holocene]], around 8,000-6,000 years ago, the range of lions expanded into Southeastern and Eastern Europe, partially re-occupying the range of the now extinct [[Panthera spelaea|cave lion]].<ref name=Marciszak2022>{{Cite journal |last1=Marciszak |first1=A. |last2=Ivanoff |first2=D. V. |last3=Semenov |first3=Y. A. |last4=Talamo |first4=S. |last5=Ridush |first5=B. |last6=Stupak |first6=A. |last7=Yanish |first7=Y. |last8=Kovalchuk |first8=O. |date=2022 |title=The Quaternary lions of Ukraine and a trend of decreasing size in ''Panthera spelaea'' |journal=[[Journal of Mammalian Evolution]] |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=109–135 |doi=10.1007/s10914-022-09635-3 |hdl-access=free |hdl=11585/903022 }}</ref> In [[Hungary]], the modern lion was present from about 4,500 to 3,200 years [[Before Present]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Daróczi-Szabó, M. |author2=Kovács, Z. E. |author3=Raczky, P. |author4=Bartosiewicz, L. |year=2020 |title=Pending danger: Recent copper age lion (''Panthera leo'' L., 1758) finds from Hungary |journal=International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=469–481 |doi=10.1002/oa.2875|doi-access=free }}</ref> In [[Ukraine]], the modern lion was present from about 6,400 to 2,000 years Before Present.<ref name=Marciszak2022 /> In Greece, it was common, as reported by [[Herodotus]] in 480 BC; it was considered rare by 300 BC and [[Local extinction|extirpated]] by AD 100.<ref name=Guggisberg1975 />
===Hunting and diet===
[[Image:Female Lion.JPG|thumb|upright|While a lioness such as this one has very sharp teeth, prey is usually killed by strangulation]]
Lions are powerful animals that usually hunt in coordinated groups and stalk their chosen prey. However, they are not particularly known for their stamina - for instance, a lioness' heart makes up only 0.57 percent of her body weight (a male's is about 0.45 percent of his body weight), whereas a hyena's heart is close to 1 percent of its body weight.<ref name="Schaller39">Schaller, p. 248</ref> Thus, although lionesses can reach speeds of {{convert|81|km/h|mi/h|-1|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0004737.html| title=Speed of Animals| publisher=Fact Monster |accessdate=6 October 2009}}</ref> they only can do so for short bursts<ref name="Schaller2478">Schaller, p. 247–248</ref> so they have to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night.<ref name="Schaller237">Schaller, p. 237</ref> They sneak up to the victim until they reach a distance of approximately 30&nbsp;metres (98&nbsp;ft) or less. Typically, several lionesses work together and encircle the herd from different points. Once they have closed with a herd, they usually target the closest prey. The attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch the victim with a fast rush and final leap. The prey usually is killed by [[strangulation]],<ref>{{cite web |title=About lions—Ecology and behaviour |author=Dr Gus Mills |publisher=African Lion Working Group |url=http://www.african-lion.org/lions_e.htm |accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref> which can cause [[cerebral ischemia]] or [[asphyxia]] (which results in [[hypoxemia|hypoxemic]], or "general," [[hypoxia (medical)|hypoxia]]). The prey also may be killed by the lion enclosing the animal's mouth and nostrils in its jaws<ref name="nowak">Ronald M. Nowak: ''Walker's Mammals of the World''.</ref> (which would also result in asphyxia). Smaller prey, though, may simply be killed by a swipe of a lion's paw.<ref name="nowak"/>
[[Image:Lions hunting Africa.jpg|thumb|A pride of lions working together to bring down a buffalo in the Okavango Delta, Botswana]]
[[Image:Lions taking down cape buffalo.jpg|thumb|left|Four lions take down a cape buffalo in the central Serengeti, Tanzania]]
[[Image:Loewen elefanten.jpg|thumb|Lions at the Savuti river are well known for their relatively frequent predation on elephants]]
The [[predation|prey]] consists mainly of large mammals, with a preference for [[wildebeest]], [[impala]]s, [[zebra]]s, [[African Buffalo|buffalo]], and [[warthog]]s in Africa and [[nilgai]], [[boar|wild boar]], and several [[deer]] species in India. Many other species are hunted, based on availability. Mainly this will include [[ungulate]]s weighing between 50 and 300&nbsp;kg (110–660&nbsp;lb) such as [[kudu]], [[hartebeest]], [[gemsbok]], and [[taurotragus|eland]].<ref name="nowak"/> Occasionally, they take relatively small species such as [[Thomson's Gazelle]] or [[springbok (antelope)|springbok]]. Lions hunting in groups are capable of taking down most animals, even healthy adults, but in most parts of their range they rarely attack very large prey such as fully grown male [[giraffe]]s due to the danger of injury.


In Asia the lion once ranged in regions where climatic conditions supported an abundance of prey.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schnitzler |first1=A. |last2=Hermann |first2=L. |title=Chronological distribution of the tiger ''Panthera tigris'' and the Asiatic lion ''Panthera leo persica'' in their common range in Asia |journal=[[Mammal Review]] |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=340–353 |doi=10.1111/mam.12166 |date=2019 |s2cid=202040786}}</ref> It was present in the [[Caucasus]] until the 10th century.<ref name=USSR/> It lived in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] until the [[Middle Ages]] and in Southwest Asia until the late 19th century. By the late 19th century, it had been extirpated in most of Turkey.<ref>{{cite book |author=Üstay, A. H. |year=1990 |title=Hunting in Turkey |publisher=BBA |location=Istanbul}}</ref> The last live lion in Iran was sighted in 1942, about {{cvt|65|km}} northwest of [[Dezful]],<ref name=Firouz05>{{cite book|last=Firouz|first=E.|year=2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2EZCScFXloC&pg=PA66|title=The complete fauna of Iran |publisher=I. B. Tauris |isbn=978-1-85043-946-2 |pages=5–67|access-date=25 September 2019|archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505151453/https://books.google.com/books?id=t2EZCScFXloC&pg=PA66|url-status=live}}</ref> although the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of the [[Karun]] river in [[Khuzestan province]] in 1944.<ref name=simba /> It once ranged from [[Sind]] and [[Punjab]] in Pakistan to [[Bengal]] and the [[Narmada River]] in central India.<ref name=Kinnear1920>{{cite journal |author=Kinnear, N. B. |year=1920 |title=The past and present distribution of the lion in southeastern Asia |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=27 |pages=34–39 |url=https://archive.org/stream/journalofbombayn27192022bomb#page/32/mode/2up}}</ref>
Extensive statistics collected over various studies show that lions normally feed on mammals in the range 190–550&nbsp;kg (420–1210&nbsp;lb). In Africa, wildebeest rank at the top of preferred prey (making nearly half of the lion prey in the [[Serengeti]]) followed by zebra.<ref>''The Art of Being a Lion'' pg 186, Christine and Michel Denis-Huot, Friedman/Fairfax, 2002</ref> Most adult [[hippopotamus]]es, [[rhinoceros]]es, [[elephant]]s, and smaller [[gazelle]]s, [[impala]], and other agile antelopes are generally excluded. However giraffes and buffalos are often taken in certain regions. For instance, in Kruger National Park, giraffes are regularly hunted.<ref name="Pienaar69">{{cite journal |author=Pienaar U de V |year=1969 |title=Predator-prey relationships amongst the larger mammals of the Kruger National Park |journal=Koedoe |volume=12 |pages=108–176 |id= }}</ref> In Manyara Park, Cape buffaloes constitute as much as 62% of the lion's diet,<ref>"Among the Elephants", Iain and Oria Douglas-Hamilton, 1975</ref> due to the high number density of buffaloes. Occasionally hippopotamus is also taken, but adult rhinoceroses are generally avoided. Even though smaller than 190&nbsp;kg (420&nbsp;lb), warthogs are often taken depending on availability.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hayward |first= Matt W. |coauthors=Graham Kerley| year=2005| title=Prey preferences of the lion (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=267 |issue=3 |pages=309–322 |doi=10.1017/S0952836905007508}}</ref> In some areas, they specialise in hunting atypical prey species; this is the case at the [[Chobe National Park#Geography and ecosystems|Savuti]] river, where they prey on elephants.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kemp| first=Leigh| url=http://www.go2africa.com/africa-travel-articles/elephant-eaters-of-the-savuti| title=The Elephant Eaters of the Savuti| publisher=go2africa |accessdate=8 March 2010}}</ref> Park guides in the area reported that the lions, driven by extreme hunger, started taking down baby elephants, and then moved on to adolescents and, occasionally, fully grown adults during the night when elephants' vision is poor.<ref>{{cite news |title=King of the jungle defies nature with new quarry |first=Damien |last=Whitworth |date=9 October 2006 |publisher=The Australian |url=http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20547955-38195,00.html |accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref> Lions also attack domestic livestock; in India cattle contribute significantly to their diet.<ref name=Menon>Vivek Menon: ''A Field Guide to Indian Mammals''.</ref> They are capable of killing other predators such as [[leopard]]s, [[cheetah]]s, [[hyena]]s, and [[African Wild Dog|wild dogs]], though (unlike most felids) they seldom devour the competitors after killing them. They also scavenge animals either dead from [[natural causes]] (disease) or killed by other predators, and keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, being keenly aware that they indicate an animal dead or in distress.<ref name="Schaller213">Schaller, p. 213</ref> A lion may gorge itself and eat up to 30&nbsp;kg (66&nbsp;lb) in one sitting;<ref name="simba">{{cite book |last= Guggisberg|first=C. A. W. |title=Simba: the life of the lion. |year=1961 |publisher=Howard Timmins |location=Cape Town |isbn= }}</ref> if it is unable to consume all the kill it will rest for a few hours before consuming more. On a hot day, the pride may retreat to shade leaving a male or two to stand guard.<ref name="Schaller2706">Schaller, p. 270–276</ref> An adult lioness requires an average of about 5&nbsp;kg (11&nbsp;lb) of meat per day, a male about 7&nbsp;kg (15.4&nbsp;lb).<ref>{{cite web |title=Lions |publisher=Honolulu Zoo |url=http://www.honoluluzoo.org/lion.htm |accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref>


==Behaviour and ecology==
[[Image:Lions and a Zebra b.jpg|thumb|The hunters of a pride sharing a zebra where the kill occurred]]
Lions spend much of their time resting; they are inactive for about twenty hours per day.<ref name="Schaller122">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 122.</ref> Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socialising, grooming, and defecating. [[Cathemerality|Intermittent bursts of activity]] continue until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and fifty minutes eating.<ref name="Schaller120">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 120–121.</ref>
Because lionesses hunt in open spaces where they are easily seen by their prey, cooperative hunting increases the likelihood of a successful hunt; this is especially true with larger species. Teamwork also enables them to defend their kills more easily against other large predators such as hyenas, which may be attracted by [[vulture]]s from kilometers away in open savannas. Lionesses do most of the hunting; males attached to prides do not usually participate in hunting, except in the case of larger quarry such as giraffe and buffalo. In typical hunts, each lioness has a favored position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing" then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey in flight from other lionesses.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Stander, P. E.|title=Cooperative hunting in lions: the role of the individual|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|volume=29|issue=6|pages=445–454|year=1992|doi=10.1007/BF00170175}}</ref>


===Group organisation===
Young lions first display stalking behavior around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old. They begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two.<ref name="Schaller153">Schaller, p. 153</ref>
{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical
|image1=Lion (Panthera leo) male and cub Etosha.jpg|caption1=Lion pride in Etosha National Park
|image2=Lions Family Portrait Masai Mara.jpg|caption2=A lioness (left) and two males in Masai Mara}}
The lion is the most social of all wild felid species, living in groups of related individuals with their offspring. Such a group is called a "[[List of animal names#L|pride]]". Groups of male lions are called "coalitions".<ref name="Schaller33">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 33.</ref> Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females.<ref name="Schaller37">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 37.</ref> The majority of females remain in their birth prides while all males and some females will [[Biological dispersal|disperse]].<ref name=Packer33>[[#Packer|Packer]], p. 33.</ref> The average pride consists of around 15 lions, including several adult females and up to four males and their cubs of both sexes. Large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 34–35.</ref> The sole exception to this pattern is the [[Tsavo lion]] pride that always has just one adult male.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Milius |first=S. |date=2002 |title= Biology: Maneless lions live one guy per pride|journal=Society for Science & the Public |volume=161 |issue=16 |page=253 |doi=10.1002/scin.5591611614}}</ref> Prides act as [[fission–fusion society|fission–fusion societies]], and members will split into subgroups that keep in contact with [[roar]]s.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 25, 31.</ref>


Nomadic lions range widely and move around sporadically, either in pairs or alone.<ref name="Schaller33"/> Pairs are more frequent among related males. A lion may switch lifestyles; nomads can become residents and vice versa.<ref name=Estes>{{cite book |author=Estes, R. |year=1991 |title=The behavior guide to African mammals: including hoofed mammals, carnivores, primates |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08085-0 |location=Berkeley |chapter=Lion |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858/page/369 369–376] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858/page/369 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_0520080858/page/369 }}</ref> Interactions between prides and nomads tend to be hostile, although pride females in [[estrus]] allow nomadic males to approach them.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 52–54.</ref> Males spend years in a nomadic phase before gaining residence in a pride.<ref>{{cite book |author=Hanby, J. P.|author2=Bygott, J. D. |year=1979 |chapter=Population changes in lions and other predators |title=Serengeti: dynamics of an ecosystem |editor1=Sinclair, A. R. E. |editor2=Norton-Griffiths, M. |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |pages=249–262}}</ref> A study undertaken in the [[Serengeti National Park]] revealed that nomadic coalitions gain residency at between 3.5 and 7.3 years of age.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Borrego, N. |author2=Ozgul, A.|author3=Slotow, R.|author4=Packer, C. |year=2018 |title=Lion population dynamics: do nomadic males matter? |journal=Behavioral Ecology |volume=29 |issue=3 |doi=10.1093/beheco/ary018 |pages=660–666 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In Kruger National Park, dispersing male lions move more than {{cvt|25|km}} away from their natal pride in search of their own territory. Female lions stay closer to their natal pride. Therefore, female lions in an area are more closely related to each other than male lions in the same area.<ref>{{cite journal |author=van Hooft, P.|author2=Keet, D. F. |author3=Brebner, D. K.|author4=Bastos, A. D. |year=2018 |title=Genetic insights into dispersal distance and disperser fitness of African lions (''Panthera leo'') from the latitudinal extremes of the Kruger National Park, South Africa |journal=BMC Genetics |volume=19 |issue=1 |page=21 |doi=10.1186/s12863-018-0607-x |pmid=29614950 |pmc=5883395 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
===Reproduction and life cycle===
Most lionesses will have reproduced by the time they are four years of age.<ref name="Schaller29">Schaller, p. 29</ref> Lions do not [[mating|mate]] at any specific time of year, and the females are [[Estrous cycle#Frequency|polyestrous]].<ref name="Schaller174">Schaller, p. 174</ref> As with other cats, the male lion's penis has spines which point backwards. Upon withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asdell |first=Sydney A. |title=Patterns of mammalian reproduction |year=1993|origyear= 1964 |publisher=Cornell University Press|location=Ithaca |isbn=978-0-8014-1753-5}}</ref> A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is [[Estrous cycle|in heat]];<ref name="Schaller142">Schaller, p. 142</ref> during a mating bout, which could last several days, the couple copulates twenty to forty times a day and are likely to forgo eating. Lions reproduce very well in captivity.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}


The evolution of sociability in lions was likely driven both by high population density and the clumped resources of savannah habitats. The larger the pride, the more high-quality [[Territory (animal)|territory]] they can defend; "hotspots" being near river [[confluence]]s, where the cats have better access to water, prey and shelter (via vegetation).<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 195–196, 222.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mosser|first1=A. A.|last2=Kosmala|first2=M.|last3=Packer|first3=C.|year=2015|title=Landscape heterogeneity and behavioral traits drive the evolution of lion group territoriality|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=26|issue=4|pages=1051–1059|doi=10.1093/beheco/arv046|doi-access=free}}</ref> The area occupied by a pride is called a "pride area" whereas that occupied by a nomad is a "range".<ref name="Schaller33"/> Males associated with a pride patrol the fringes.<ref name=Haas2005/> Both males and females defend the pride against intruders, but the male lion is better-suited for this purpose due to its stockier, more powerful build. Some individuals consistently lead the defence against intruders, while others lag behind.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heinsohn|first= R. |author2=Packer, C. |year=1995 |title=Complex cooperative strategies in group-territorial African lions |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5228 |pages=1260–1262 |doi=10.1126/science.7652573 |pmid=7652573|bibcode=1995Sci...269.1260H |s2cid= 35849910 |url=http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/BIOL608W/Heinsohn&Packer95.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810170702/http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/BIOL608W/Heinsohn&Packer95.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride; slower-moving individuals may provide other valuable services to the group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morell |first=V. |year=1995 |title=Cowardly lions confound cooperation theory |journal=Science |volume=269 |issue=5228 |pages=1216–1217 |doi=10.1126/science.7652566 |pmid=7652566|bibcode=1995Sci...269.1216M |s2cid=44676637}}</ref> Alternatively, there may be rewards associated with being a leader that fends off intruders; the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jahn |first=G. C. |year=1996 |title=Lioness Leadership |journal=Science |volume=271 |issue=5253 |page=1215 |doi=10.1126/science.271.5253.1215a |pmid=17820922 |bibcode=1996Sci...271.1215J|s2cid=5058849 }}</ref> The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship with the pride from outside males who may attempt to usurp them.<ref name=Estes/> [[Dominance hierarchy|Dominance hierarchies]] do not appear to exist among individuals of either sex in a pride.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], pp. 42, 57.</ref>
[[Image:Lions mating Denver Zoo.jpg|thumb|left|During a mating bout, a couple may copulate 20 to 40 times a day for several days]]
The average gestation period is around 110&nbsp;days,<ref name="Schaller174"/> the female giving birth to a litter of one to four cubs in a secluded den (which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave or some other sheltered area) usually away from the rest of the pride. She will often hunt by herself whilst the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the thicket or den where the cubs are kept.<ref name="Scott">Scott, Jonathon; Scott, Angela. (2002), ''Big Cat Diary: Lion'', p. 45</ref> The cubs themselves are born blind—their eyes do not open until roughly a week after birth. They weigh 1.2–2.1&nbsp;kg (2.6–4.6&nbsp;lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age.<ref name="Schaller143">Schaller, p. 143</ref> The lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one by one by the nape of the neck, to prevent scent from building up at a single den site and thus avoiding the attention of predators that may harm the cubs.<ref name="Scott"/>


Asiatic lion prides differ in group composition. Male Asiatic lions are solitary or associate with up to three males, forming a loose pride while females associate with up to 12 other females, forming a stronger pride together with their cubs. Female and male lions associate only when mating.<ref name=Joslin1973>{{cite book |author=Joslin, P. |year=1973 |title=The Asiatic lion: a study of ecology and behaviour |location=University of Edinburgh, UK |publisher=Department of Forestry and Natural Resources}}</ref> Coalitions of males hold territory for a longer time than single lions. Males in coalitions of three or four individuals exhibit a pronounced hierarchy, in which one male dominates the others and mates more frequently.<ref name=Chakrabarti2017>{{cite journal |author=Chakrabarti, S. |author2=Jhala, Y. V. |author2-link=Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala |year=2017 |title=Selfish partners: resource partitioning in male coalitions of Asiatic lions |journal=Behavioral Ecology |volume=28 |issue=6 |pages=1532–1539 |doi=10.1093/beheco/arx118|pmid=29622932 |pmc=5873260}}</ref>
Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old.<ref>Scott, Jonathon; Scott, Angela. p. 45</ref> However, sometimes this introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time. For instance, lionesses in a pride often synchronize their reproductive cycles so that they cooperate in the raising and suckling of the young (once the cubs are past the initial stage of isolation with their mother), who suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. In addition to greater protection, the synchronization of births also has an advantage in that the cubs end up being roughly the same size, and thus have an equal chance of survival. If one lioness gives birth to a litter of cubs a couple of months after another lioness, for instance, then the younger cubs, being much smaller than their older brethren, are usually dominated by larger cubs at mealtimes—consequently, death by starvation is more common amongst the younger cubs.
[[Image:PregnantLioness.jpg|thumb|A pregnant lioness (right)]]
In addition to starvation, cubs also face many other dangers, such as predation by jackals, hyenas, leopards, martial eagles and snakes. Even buffaloes, should they catch the scent of lion cubs, often stampede towards the thicket or den where they are being kept, doing their best to trample the cubs to death whilst warding off the lioness. Furthermore, when one or more new males oust the previous male(s) associated with a pride, the conqueror(s) often kill any existing young cubs,<ref name="Packpus83">{{cite journal |author=Packer, C., Pusey, A. E. |year=1983 |month=May |title= Adaptations of female lions to infanticide by incoming males|journal= American Naturalist |volume=121 |issue=5 |pages=716–728 |url=http://www.lionresearch.org/current_docs/6.pdf |accessdate=2007-07-08 |doi= 10.1086/284097|format=PDF}}</ref> perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. All in all, as many as 80 percent of the cubs will die before the age of two.<ref>{{cite book |last=Macdonald |first=David |year=1984 |title=The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher=Facts on File|location=New York |page=31|isbn= 0-87196-871-1}}</ref>


===Hunting and diet===
When first introduced to the rest of the pride, the cubs initially lack confidence when confronted with adult lions other than their mother. However, they soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, playing amongst themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults. Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. The tolerance of the male lions towards the cubs varies—sometimes, a male will patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, whereas another may snarl and bat the cubs away.<ref>Scott, Jonathon; Scott, Angela; p. 46</ref>
{{multiple image| perrow=1 |image2=Lions taking down cape buffalo.jpg|caption2=Four lionesses catching a buffalo in the Serengeti |image1=Lion and eland.jpg |caption1=A skeletal mount of a lion attacking a [[common eland]], on display at [[The Museum of Osteology]]
|image3=Lions and a Zebra b.jpg |caption3=Lions feeding on a zebra}}


The lion is a [[Generalist and specialist species|generalist]] [[hypercarnivore]] and is considered to be both an apex and keystone predator due to its wide prey spectrum.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 208.</ref><ref name=Frank1998>{{cite book |last=Frank| first=L. G. |year=1998 |title=Living with lions: carnivore conservation and livestock in Laikipia District, Kenya |location=Mpala Research Centre, Nanyuki |publisher=US Agency for International Development, Conservation of Biodiverse Resource Areas Project, 623-0247-C-00-3002-00}}</ref> Its prey consists mainly of medium-sized to large [[ungulate]]s, particularly [[blue wildebeest]], [[plains zebra]], [[African buffalo]], [[gemsbok]] and [[giraffe]]. It also frequently takes [[common warthog]] despite it being much smaller.<ref name=Hayward2005>{{Cite journal |last1=Hayward |first1=M. W. |last2=Kerley |first2=G. I. H. |year=2005 |title=Prey preferences of the lion (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=267 |issue=3 |pages=309–322 |doi=10.1017/S0952836905007508 |citeseerx=10.1.1.611.8271 |url=http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/g2/pdf/1595.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627132429/http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/g2/pdf/1595.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In India, [[chital]] and [[sambar deer]] are the most common wild prey,<ref name=Haas2005/><ref name=Hayward2005/><ref name=Mukherjee>{{cite journal |last1=Mukherjee |first1=S. |last2=Goyal |first2=S. P. |last3=Chellam| first3=R. |year=1994 |title=Refined techniques for the analysis of Asiatic lion ''Panthera leo persica'' scats |journal=Acta Theriologica |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=425–430 |doi=10.4098/AT.arch.94-50 |doi-access=free}}</ref> while livestock contributes significantly to lion kills outside protected areas.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Meena, V. |author2=Jhala, Y. V. |author3=Chellam, R. |author4=Pathak, B. |year=2011 |title=Implications of diet composition of Asiatic lions for their conservation |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=284 |issue=1 |pages=60–67 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2010.00780.x |doi-access=free}}</ref> It usually avoids fully grown adult [[elephant]]s, [[rhinoceros]] and [[hippopotamus]] and small prey like [[dik-dik]], [[hyrax]]es, [[hare]]s and [[monkey]]s. Unusual prey include [[Old World porcupine|porcupine]]s and small reptiles. Lions kill other predators but seldom consume them.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 220–221.</ref>
[[Image:Male Lion and Cub Chitwa South Africa Luca Galuzzi 2004.JPG|thumb|The tolerance of male lions towards the cubs varies. They are, however, generally more likely to share food with the cubs than with the lionesses.]]
Weaning occurs after six to seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about 3 years of age and, at 4–5 years of age, are capable of challenging and displacing the adult male(s) associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest,<ref>{{cite book |last=Crandall |first=Lee S. |title=The management of wild animals in captivity |year=1964 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |oclc=557916 }}</ref> if they have not already been critically injured whilst defending the pride (once ousted from a pride by rival males, male lions rarely manage a second take-over). This leaves a short window for their own offspring to be born and mature. If they are able to procreate as soon as they take over a pride, potentially, they may have more offspring reaching maturity before they also are displaced. A lioness often will attempt to defend her cubs fiercely from a usurping male, but such actions are rarely successful. He usually kills all of the existing cubs who are less than two years old. A lioness is weaker and much lighter than a male; success is more likely when a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against one male.<ref name="Packpus83"/>


Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two.<ref name=Schaller153>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 153.</ref> Single lions are capable of bringing down zebra and wildebeest, while larger prey like buffalo and giraffe are riskier.<ref name=Estes/> In [[Chobe National Park]], large prides have been observed hunting [[African bush elephant]]s up to around 15 years old in exceptional cases, with the victims being calves, juveniles, and even subadults.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Joubert |first1=D. |year=2006 |title=Hunting behaviour of lions (''Panthera leo'') on elephants (''Loxodonta africana'') in the Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=279–281 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2006.00626.x|bibcode=2006AfJEc..44..279J}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Power |first1=R. J. |last2=Compion |first2=R. X. S. |title=Lion predation on elephants in the Savuti, Chobe National Park, Botswana |journal=African Zoology |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=36–44 |doi=10.3377/004.044.0104 |year=2009 |s2cid=86371484 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232693088 |access-date=20 April 2018 |archive-date=31 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831035431/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232693088 |url-status=live}}</ref> In typical group hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing", then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting.<ref name=hunt>{{Cite journal |last=Stander |first=P. E. |title=Cooperative hunting in lions: the role of the individual |journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology |volume=29 |issue=6 |pages=445–454 |year=1992 |doi=10.1007/BF00170175 |bibcode=1992BEcoS..29..445S |s2cid=2588727 |url=http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Mail/xmcamail.2011_09.dir/pdfeL5GzNL2FL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518095055/http://lchc.ucsd.edu/MCA/Mail/xmcamail.2011_09.dir/pdfeL5GzNL2FL.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Contrary to popular belief, it is not only males that are ousted from their pride to become nomads, although the majority of females certainly do remain with their birth pride. However, when the pride becomes too large, the next generation of female cubs may be forced to leave to eke out their own territory. Furthermore, when a new male lion takes over the pride, subadult lions, both male and female, may be evicted.<ref>Scott, Jonathon; Scott, Angela. p. 68''</ref> Life is harsh for a female nomad. Nomadic lionesses rarely manage to raise their cubs to maturity, without the protection of other pride members.
Some evidence suggests, however, that males are just as successful as females; they are typically solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Loarie, S. R. |last2=Tambling, C. J. |last3=Asner, G. P. |year=2013 |title=Lion hunting behaviour and vegetation structure in an African savanna |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=85 |issue=5 |pages=899–906 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.01.018 |hdl=2263/41825 |hdl-access=free |s2cid=53185309 |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/2263/41825/1/Loarie_Lion_2013.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816101650/http://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/2263/41825/1/Loarie_Lion_2013.pdf |archive-date=16 August 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> They may join in the hunting of large, slower-moving prey like buffalo; and even hunt them on their own. Moderately-sized hunting groups generally have higher success rates than lone females and larger groups.<ref>[[#Packer|Packer]], p. 150, 153, 164–165.</ref>


Lions are not particularly known for their stamina. For instance, a lioness's heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 248.</ref> Thus, lions run quickly only in short bursts at about {{cvt|48-59|km/h}} and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack.<ref name=Schaller2478>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 233, 247–248</ref> They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night.<ref name=Schaller237>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 237.</ref> One study in 2018 recorded a lion running at a top speed of {{cvt|74.1|km/h}}.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wilson |first1=A. M. |last2=Hubel |first2=T. Y. |last3=Wilshin |first3=S. D. |last4=Lowe |first4=J. C. |last5=Lorenc |first5=M. |last6=Dewhirst |first6=O. P. |last7=Bartlam-Brooks |first7=H. L. |last8=Diack |first8=R. |last9=Bennitt |first9=E. |last10=Golabek |first10=K. A. |last11=Woledge |first11=R. C. |year=2018 |title=Biomechanics of predator–prey arms race in lion, zebra, cheetah and impala |url=https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/preview/1388812/11143.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Nature |volume=554 |issue=7691 |pages=183–188 |bibcode=2018Natur.554..183W |doi=10.1038/nature25479 |pmid=29364874 |s2cid=4405091 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305065622/https://researchonline.rvc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11143/1/11143.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2020}}</ref> The lion accelerates at the start of the chase by 9.5 [[Metre per second squared|m/s²]], whereas zebras, wildebeest and [[Thomson's gazelle]] accelerate by 5 m/s², 5.6 m/s² and 4.5 m/s², respectively; acceleration appears to be more important than steady displacement speed in lion hunts.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mammals as Predators: The Proceedings of a Symposium Held by The Zoological Society of London and Mammal Society: London, 22nd and 23rd November 1991 |author=McNeill, R. A. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsaspredato0000unse/mode/1up |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford |editor1=Dunstone, N. |pages=1–13 |chapter=Legs and locomotion of carnivora |doi=10.1093/oso/9780198540670.003.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-854067-0 |editor2=Gorman, M. L.}}</ref> The lion's attack is short and powerful; it attempts to catch prey with a fast rush and final leap, usually pulls it down by the rump, and kills with a clamping bite to the [[Throat clamp|throat]] or [[Muzzle clamp|muzzle]]. It can hold the prey's throat for up to 13 minutes, until the prey stops moving.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 244, 263–267.</ref> It has a [[Bite force quotient|bite force]] from 1593.8 to 1768 [[Newton (unit)|Newtons]] at the canine tip and up 4167.6 Newtons at the [[carnassial]] notch.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Thomason |first=J. J. |date=1991 |title=Cranial strength in relation to estimated biting forces in some mammals |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=69 |issue=9 |pages=2326–2333 |doi=10.1139/z91-327|bibcode=1991CaJZ...69.2326T}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wroe |first1=S. |last2=McHenry |first2=C. |last3=Thomason |first3=J. J. |date=2005 |title=Bite club: comparative bite force in big biting mammals and the prediction of predatory behaviour in fossil taxa |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=272 |issue=1563 |pages=619–625 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2004.2986 |pmc=1564077 |pmid=15817436}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Van der Meijden |first1=A. |last2=González-Gómez |first2=J. C. |last3=Pulido-Osorio |first3=M. D. |last4=Herrel |first4=A. |date=2023 |title=Measurement of voluntary bite forces in large carnivores using a semi-automated reward-driven system |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=226 |issue=7 |doi=10.1242/jeb.245255 |page=jeb245255 |pmid=36939369}}</ref>
One scientific study reports that both males and females may interact [[animal sexual behaviour|homosexually]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bagemihl |first=Bruce |year=1999 |title=Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=0-312-19239-8| pages=302–305}}</ref><ref>
[[File:Male Lion and Cub Chitwa South Africa Luca Galuzzi 2004.JPG |thumb|Male lion and cub with mostly eaten buffalo carcass in [[Sabi Sand Game Reserve]]]]
{{cite web | last =Srivastav | first =Suvira | title =Lion, Without Lioness | work =TerraGreen: News to Save the Earth | publisher=Terragreen | date=15–31 December 2001 | url=http://www.teri.res.in/teriin/terragreen/issue3/feature.htm | accessdate =2007-09-02}}</ref> Male lions pair-bond for a number of days and initiate homosexual activity with affectionate nuzzling and caressing, leading to mounting and thrusting. A study found that about 8 percent of mountings have been observed to occur with other males.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} Female pairings are held to be fairly common in captivity, but have not been observed in the wild.
Lions typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover.<ref name=Schaller2706/> They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled lions, which can live on leftovers.<ref name=Estes/> Large kills are shared more widely among pride members.<ref name=Schaller133>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 133.</ref> An adult lioness requires an average of about {{cvt|5|kg}} of meat per day while males require about {{cvt|7|kg}}.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 276.</ref> Lions gorge themselves and eat up to {{cvt|30|kg}} in one session.<ref name=simba>{{Cite book |last=Guggisberg |first=C. A. W. |title=Simba: the life of the lion. |year=1961 |publisher=Howard Timmins |location=Cape Town}}</ref> If it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard.<ref name=Schaller2706>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 270–76.</ref> Lions defend their kills from scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.<ref name=Estes/>


Lions scavenge on [[carrion]] when the opportunity arises, scavenging animals dead from natural causes such as disease or those that were killed by other predators. Scavenging lions keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, which indicate the death or distress of an animal.<ref name=Schaller213>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 213–216.</ref> Most carrion on which both hyenas and lions feed upon are killed by hyenas rather than lions.<ref name=nowak/> Carrion is thought to provide a large part of lion diet.<ref name=AWF>{{cite web |title=Behavior and Diet |work=African Wildlife Foundation website |publisher=African Wildlife Foundation |year=1996 |url=http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion |access-date=6 June 2014 |archive-date=19 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719112213/https://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/lion |url-status=live}}</ref>
===Health===
Though adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests that the majority die violently from humans or other lions.<ref name="Schaller183">Schaller, p. 183</ref> This is particularly true of male lions, who, as the main defenders of the pride, are more likely to come into aggressive contact with rival males. In fact, even though a male lion may reach an age of 15 or 16 years if he manages to avoid being ousted by other males, the majority of adult males do not live to be more than 10 years old. This is why the average lifespan of a male lion tends to be significantly less than that of a lioness in the wild. However, members of both sexes can be injured or even killed by other lions when two prides with overlapping territories come into conflict.
[[Image:Lion female in tree, Serengeti.jpg|thumb|One of the tree climbing Lions of the Serengeti, Tanzania]]
Various species of [[tick]] commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of most lions.<ref name="Schaller184">Schaller, p. 184</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Yeoman |first=G.|coauthors= Jane B. Walker |title=The ixodid ticks of Tanzania|year=1967 |publisher=Commonwealth Institute of Entomology |location=London |oclc=955970}}</ref> Adult forms of several species of the tapeworm genus ''[[Taenia (tapeworm)|Taenia]]'' have been isolated from intestines, the lions having ingested larval forms from antelope meat.<ref>{{de icon}}{{cite journal |last=Sachs |first=R |year=1969|title=Untersuchungen zur Artbestimmung und Differenzierung der Muskelfinnen ostafrikanischer Wildtiere [Differentiation and species determination of muscle-cysticerci in East African game animals] |journal=Zeitschrift für tropenmedizin und Parasitologie |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=39–50 |pmid=5393325}}</ref> Lions in the [[Ngorongoro Conservation Area|Ngorongoro Crater]] were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly (''[[stable fly|Stomoxys calcitrans]]'') in 1962; this resulted in lions becoming covered in bloody bare patches and emaciated. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many perished or emigrated as the population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Fosbrooke |first=Henry |year=1963 |title=The stomoxys plague in Ngorongoro |journal=East African Wildlife Journal |volume=1|pages=124–126 |doi=10.2307/1781718}}</ref> A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions.<ref name="Nkwame06">{{cite news | last=Nkwame|first= Valentine M | title=King of the jungle in jeopardy | publisher=The Arusha Times | date=9 September 2006 | url=http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/2006/36/features_10.htm | accessdate=2007-09-04}}</ref> Lions, especially in captivity, are vulnerable to the [[Canine distemper]] [[virus]] (CDV), [[feline immunodeficiency virus]] (FIV), and [[feline infectious peritonitis]] (FIP).<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia"/> CDV is spread through domestic dogs and other [[carnivora|carnivores]]; a 1994 outbreak in [[Serengeti National Park]] resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from pneumonia and [[encephalitis]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=M.E. Roelke-Parker ''et al.'' |year=1996 |month=February |title=A canine distemper epidemic in Serengeti lions (''Panthera leo'') |journal= Nature|volume=379 |issue= 6564|pages=441–445 |url=http://www.lionresearch.org/current_docs/17.pdf |format=PDF|accessdate=2007-07-08 |doi=10.1038/379441a0|pmid=8559247}}</ref> FIV, which is similar to [[HIV]] while not known to adversely affect lions, is worrisome enough in its effect in domestic cats that the Species Survival Plan recommends systematic testing in captive lions. It occurs with high to endemic frequency in several wild lion populations, but is mostly absent from Asiatic and Namibian lions.<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia"/>''


===Communication===
===Predatory competition===
{{multiple image |perrow=1 |image1=Lioness vs. Hyena in KNP 07.jpg|caption1=Lioness chasing a spotted hyena in Kruger National Park |image2=Lioness vs Leopard 9 July 2016 Latest Sightings 1.png |caption2=Lioness stealing a kill from a leopard in Kruger National Park}}
[[Image:Lion cub with mother.jpg|thumb|right|Head rubbing and licking are common social behaviors within a pride]]
When resting, lion socialization occurs through a number of behaviors, and the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking,<ref name="Schaller85">Schaller, p. 85</ref> which have been compared with grooming in primates.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Desmond Morris|last=Sparks |first=J |title=Primate Ethology |chapter=Allogrooming in primates:a review |year=1967 |publisher=Aldine |location=Chicago |isbn=0-297-74828-9}} (2007 edition: 0-202-30826-X)</ref> Head rubbing—nuzzling one's forehead, face and neck against another lion—appears to be a form of greeting,<ref>{{de icon}}{{cite book |last=Leyhausen |first=Paul |title=Verhaltensstudien an Katzen|edition= 2nd |year=1960 |publisher=Paul Parey |location=Berlin |isbn=3-489-71836-4 }}</ref> as it is seen often after an animal has been apart from others, or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females.<ref name="Schaller858">Schaller, p. 85–88</ref> Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked, which may have arisen out of utility, as a lion cannot lick these areas individually.<ref name="Schaller8891">Schaller, p. 88–91</ref>


Lions and [[spotted hyena]]s occupy a similar ecological niche and compete for prey and carrion; a review of data across several studies indicates a dietary overlap of 58.6%.<ref name="prey">{{Cite journal |title=Prey preferences of the spotted hyaena (''Crocuta crocuta'') and degree of dietary overlap with the lion (''Panthera leo'') |url=http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/g2/pdf/1598.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430024111/http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/g2/pdf/1598.pdf |archive-date=30 April 2011 |url-status=live |last=Hayward |first=M. W. |journal=Journal of Zoology |year=2006 |volume=270 |issue=4 |pages=606–614 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00183.x}}</ref> Lions typically ignore hyenas unless they are on a kill or are being harassed, while the latter tend to visibly react to the presence of lions with or without the presence of food. In the [[Ngorongoro crater]], lions subsist largely on kills stolen from hyenas, causing them to increase their kill rate.<ref name="Kruuk">{{Cite book |first=H. |last=Kruuk |title=The Spotted Hyena: A Study of Predation and Social Behaviour |publisher=Echo Point Books & Media |year=2014|isbn=978-1626549050 |pages=128–138|edition=2nd}}</ref> In Botswana's Chobe National Park, the situation is reversed as hyenas there frequently challenge lions and steal their kills, obtaining food from 63% of all lion kills.<ref name="Conservation">{{Cite book |chapter=Interspecific competition and the population biology of extinction-prone carnivores |last1=Creel |first1= S.|last2= Spong |first2=G. |last3=Creel|first3= N. |pages=35–60 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v39RdyYUfRIC&pg=PA36 |title=Carnivore Conservation |edition=First |editor1-first=J. L. |editor1-last=Gittleman |editor2-first=S. M. |editor2-last=Funk |editor3-first=D. W. |editor3-last=Macdonald |editor4-first=R. K. |editor4-last=Wayne |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-66232-1}}</ref> When confronted on a kill, hyenas may either leave or wait patiently at a distance of {{cvt|30|-|100|m}} until the lions have finished.<ref name="schaller272">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 272.</ref> Hyenas may feed alongside lions and force them off a kill. The two species attack one another even when there is no food involved for no apparent reason.<ref name="schaller273">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 273–74.</ref> Lions can account for up to 71% of hyena deaths in [[Etosha National Park]]. Hyenas have adapted by frequently mobbing lions that enter their home ranges.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Competitive interactions between spotted hyenas and lions in the Etosha National Park, Namibia |last1=Trinkel |first1=M. |last2=Kastberger |first2=G. |journal=African Journal of Ecology |volume=43 |issue=3 |year=2005 |pages=220–224 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2005.00574.x|bibcode=2005AfJEc..43..220T }}</ref> When the lion population in Kenya's [[Masai Mara National Reserve]] declined, the spotted hyena population increased rapidly.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Green |first1= D. S.| last2= Johnson-Ulrich |first2=L.| last3=Couraud | first3=H. E. |last4=Holekamp |first4=K. E. |year=2018 |title=Anthropogenic disturbance induces opposing population trends in spotted hyenas and African lions |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=871–889 |doi=10.1007/s10531-017-1469-7 |bibcode= 2018BiCon..27..871G|s2cid= 44240882}}</ref>
Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.<ref name="Schaller92102">Schaller, p. 92–102</ref> Their repertoire of vocalizations is also large; variations in intensity and pitch, rather than discrete signals, appear central to communication. Lion sounds include snarling, purring, hissing, coughing, miaowing, woofing and roaring. Lions tend to [[roar (animal)|roar]] in a very characteristic manner, starting with a few deep, long roars that trail off into a series of shorter ones. They most often roar at night; the sound, which can be heard from a distance of {{convert|8|km}}, is used to advertise the animal's presence.<ref name="Schaller10313">Schaller, p. 103–113</ref> Lions have the loudest roar of any big cat.


Lions tend to dominate [[cheetah]]s and leopards, steal their kills and kill their cubs and even adults when given the chance.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Denis-Hoot|first1=C. |last2= Denis-Hoot|first2= M. |year=2003 |title=The Art of Being a Lion |publisher=Barnes & Noble |location=New York |isbn=9780760747674 |page=198}}</ref> Cheetahs often lose their kills to lions or other predators.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=O'Brien |first1=S. J. |last2=Wildt |first2 =D. E. |last3=Bush |first3=M. |year=1986 |title=The Cheetah in Genetic Peril |journal=Scientific American |volume=254 |issue=5 |pages=68–76 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0586-84 |url=http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/N_and_O/OBrien_et_al_1986_Cheetah_in_genetic_peril.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513071205/http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/N_and_O/OBrien_et_al_1986_Cheetah_in_genetic_peril.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2011 |url-status=live|bibcode=1986SciAm.254e..84O}}</ref> A study in the Serengeti ecosystem revealed that lions killed at least 17 of 125 cheetah cubs born between 1987 and 1990.<ref name="laurenson">{{cite journal |last1=Laurenson |first1=M. K. |title=High juvenile mortality in cheetahs (''Acinonyx jubatus'') and its consequences for maternal care |journal=Journal of Zoology |year=1994 |volume=234 |issue=3 |pages=387–408 |doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1994.tb04855.x |url=http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/L/Laurenson_1994_Cheetah_cub_mortality_-_maternal_care.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120042410/http://www.catsg.org/cheetah/05_library/5_3_publications/L/Laurenson_1994_Cheetah_cub_mortality_-_maternal_care.pdf |archive-date=20 November 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cheetahs avoid their competitors by hunting at different times and habitats.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rostro-García |first1=S. |last2=Kamler |first2=J. F. |last3=Hunter |first3=L. T. B. |year=2015 |title=To kill, stay or flee: the effects of lions and landscape factors on habitat and kill site selection of cheetahs in South Africa |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=2 |page=e0117743 |pmid=25693067 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0117743 |pmc=4333767|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1017743R |doi-access=free}}</ref> Leopards, by contrast, do not appear to be motivated by an avoidance of lions, as they use heavy vegetation regardless of whether lions are present in an area and both cats are active around the same time of day. In addition, there is no evidence that lions affect leopard abundance.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=J. R. B.|last2=Pitman|first2=R. T.|last3=Mann|first3=G. K. H.|last4=Fuller|first4=A. K.|last5=Balme|first5=G. A.|year=2018|title=Lions and leopards coexist without spatial, temporal or demographic effects of interspecific competition|journal=Journal of Animal Ecology|volume=87|issue=6|pages=1709–1726|doi=10.1111/1365-2656.12883|pmid=30010193 |bibcode=2018JAnEc..87.1709M }}</ref> Leopards take refuge in trees, though lionesses occasionally attempt to climb up and retrieve their kills.<ref name="Schaller293">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 293.</ref>
===Interspecific predatory relationships===
In areas where lions and [[spotted hyena]]s are [[sympatric]], the two species occupy the same ecological niche, and are thus in direct competition with one another. In some cases, the extent of dietary overlap can be as high as 68.8%.{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}<ref name="prey">{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}[http://www.zbs.bialowieza.pl/publ/pdf/1598.pdf ''Prey preferences of the spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) and degree of dietary overlap with the lion (Panthera leo)'' by M. W. Hayward, Terrestrial Ecology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Eastern Cape, South Africa]{{dead link|date=April 2010}}</ref> Lions typically ignore spotted hyenas, unless they are on a kill or are being harassed by them. Spotted hyenas themselves tend to visibly react to the presence of lions, whether there is food or not. Lions will readily appropriate the kills of spotted hyenas: in the Ngorongoro crater, it is common for lions to subsist largely on kills stolen from hyenas, causing the hyenas to increase their kill rate. Lions are quick to follow the calls of hyenas feeding, a fact which was proven by Dr. Hans Kruuk, who found that lions repeatedly approached him whenever he played the tape-recorded calls of hyenas feeding.<ref name="Kruuk21">''Interactions between Hyenas and other Carnivorous Animals'' from Hans Kruuk’s ''The Spotted Hyena: A Study of Predation and Social Behaviour'' The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637, 1972</ref> When confronted on a kill by lions, spotted hyenas will either leave or wait patiently at a distance of 30–100 metres until the lions have finished.<ref name="schaller">''Interactions with hyenas, jackals and vultures'' from ''The Serengeti lion: a study of predator-prey relations'' by George B. Schaller, University of Chicago Press, 1976</ref> In some cases, spotted hyenas are bold enough to feed alongside lions, and may occasionally force the lions off a kill. The two species may act aggressively toward one another even when there is no food involved. Lions may charge at hyenas and maul them for no apparent reason: one male lion was filmed killing two matriarch hyenas on separate occasions without eating them,<ref name="enemies">{{cite video|people=Dereck and Beverley Joubert |title= Eternal Enemies: Lions and Hyenas |medium=[[DVD]]|publisher=[[National Geographic]]|date=1992}}</ref> and lion predation can account for up to 71% of hyena deaths in [[Etosha]]. Spotted hyenas have adapted to this pressure by frequently mobbing lions which enter their territories.<ref>''Competitive interactions between spotted hyenas and lions in the Etosha National Park, Namibia'' by Trinkel, Martina; Kastberger, Gerald. ''African Journal of Ecology'', Volume 43, Number 3, September 2005 , pp. 220-224(5), Blackwell Publishing</ref> Experiments on captive spotted hyenas revealed that specimens with no prior experience with lions act indifferently to the sight of them, but will react fearfully to the scent.<ref name="Kruuk21"/>


Lions similarly dominate [[African wild dog]]s, taking their kills and dispatching pups or adult dogs. Population densities of wild dogs are low in areas where lions are more abundant.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Conserving the African wild dog ''Lycaon pictus''. I. Diagnosing and treating causes of decline |last1=Woodroffe |first1=R. |last2=Ginsberg |first2=J. R. |year=1999 |journal=Oryx |volume=33 |pages=132–142 |doi=10.1046/j.1365-3008.1999.00052.x |issue=2 |doi-access=free}}</ref><!--cites two previous refs--> However, there are a few reported cases of old and wounded lions falling prey to wild dogs.<ref name=Pienaar1969>{{Cite journal |last1=Pienaar |first1=U. de V. |title=Predator–prey relationships among the larger mammals of the Kruger National Park |journal=Koedoe |date=1969 |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=108–176 |doi=10.4102/koedoe.v12i1.753 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Schaller, p. 188">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 188.</ref>
Lions tend to dominate smaller felines such as [[cheetah]]s and [[leopard]]s in areas where they are sympatric. They will steal their kills and will kill their cubs and even adults when given the chance. The cheetah has a 50 percent chance of losing its kill to lions or other predators.<ref>O'Brien, S., D. Wildt, M. Bush (1986). "The Cheetah in Genetic Peril". Scientific American 254: 68–76.</ref> Lions are major killers of cheetah cubs, up to 90 percent of which are lost in their first weeks of life due to attacks by other predators. Cheetahs avoid competition by hunting at different times of the day and hide their cubs in thick brush. Leopards also use such tactics, but have the advantage of being able to subsist much better on small prey than either lions or cheetahs. Also, unlike cheetahs, leopards can climb trees and use them to keep their cubs and kills away from lions. However, lionesses will occasionally be successful in climbing to retrieve leopard kills.<ref name="Schaller293">Schaller, p. 293</ref> Similarly, lions dominate [[African Wild Dog|African wild dogs]], not only taking their kills but also preying on both young and adult dogs (although the latter are rarely caught).<ref>[http://www.animalinfo.org/species/carnivor/lycapict.htm Animal Info - African Wild Dog<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>


===Reproduction and life cycle===
The [[Nile crocodile]] is the only sympatric predator (besides humans) that can singly threaten the lion. Depending on the size of the crocodile and the lion, either can lose kills or carrion to the other. Lions have been known to kill crocodiles venturing onto land,<ref>[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2509crocs.html Crocodiles! - PBS Nova transcript<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> while the reverse is true for lions entering waterways containing crocodiles, as evidenced by the fact that lion claws have on occasion been found in crocodile stomachs.<ref name="Guggisberg">{{cite book | author = Guggisberg, C.A.W. |url = | title = Crocodiles: Their Natural History, Folklore, and Conservation| year = 1972 | page = 195 | isbn = 0715352725 | publisher = David & Charles | location = Newton Abbot}}</ref>


{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical
==Distribution and habitat==
|image1=Panthera leo massaica mating.jpg|caption1=Lions mating at Masai Mara
[[File:India Animals.jpg|thumb|Two male [[Asiatic Lions]] in [[Sanjay Gandhi National Park]], Mumbai, India. The wild population of the endangered Asiatic Lions is restricted to the [[Gir Forest National Park]] in western India.<ref>{{cite book
|image2=Lion_cub,_Masai_Mara,_Kenya.jpg|caption2=A lion cub in Masai Mara}}
|last = Miller
|first = Brian
|title = Endangered animals: a reference guide to conflicting issues
|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000
|isbn = 0313308160, 9780313308161}}</ref>]]
In Africa, lions can be found in savanna grasslands with scattered ''[[Acacia]]'' trees which serve as shade;<ref>{{cite book |last=Rudnai|first= Judith A. |title=The social life of the lion |year=1973 |publisher=s.n. |location=Wallingford |isbn=0-85200-053-7 }}</ref> their habitat in India is a mixture of dry savanna forest and very dry deciduous scrub forest.<ref>{{cite web | title=The Gir - Floristic | work=Asiatic Lion Information Centre | publisher=Wildlife Conservation Trust of India | year=2006 | url=http://www.asiaticlion.org/gir-floristic.htm | accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref> In relatively recent times the habitat of lions spanned the southern parts of [[Eurasia]], ranging from [[Greece]] to [[India]], and most of [[Africa]] except the central [[rainforest]]-zone and the [[Sahara]] desert. [[Herodotus]] reported that lions had been common in Greece around 480 BC; they attacked the baggage camels of the Persian king [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]] on his march through the country. [[Aristotle]] considered them rare by 300 BC. By 100 AD they were extirpated.<ref name="Schaller5">Schaller, p. 5</ref> A population of the [[Asiatic Lion]] survived until the tenth century in the [[Caucasus]], their last [[Europe]]an outpost.<ref>{{cite book| last=Heptner| first= V.G.| coauthors=A. A. Sludskii| year=1989| title=Mammals of the Soviet Union: Volume 1, Part 2: Carnivora (Hyaenas and Cats)|publisher=Amerind| location=New York| isbn=9004088768}}</ref>


Most lionesses reproduce by the time they are four years of age.<ref name="Schaller29">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 29.</ref> Lions do not mate at a specific time of year and the females are [[polyestrous]].<ref name="Schaller174">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 174.</ref> Like those of other cats, the male lion's penis has [[Penile spines|spines]] that point backward. During withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause [[ovulation]].<ref>{{Cite journal | doi=10.1002/zoo.1430130403|title = Spontaneous and induced ovulation in the lion (Panthera leo)| journal=Zoo Biology| volume=13| issue=4| pages=301–307|year = 1994|last1 = Schramm|first1 = Ralph Dee| last2=Briggs| first2=Michael B.| last3=Reeves| first3=Jerry J.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Asdell |first=Sydney A. |title=Patterns of mammalian reproduction |year=1993 |orig-date=1964 |publisher=Cornell University Press |location=Ithaca |isbn=978-0-8014-1753-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/asdellspatternso00hays }}</ref> A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is [[Estrous cycle|in heat]].<ref name="Schaller142">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 142.</ref> Lions of both sexes may be involved in group [[Homosexuality in animals|homosexual]] and courtship activities. Males will also head-rub and roll around with each other before mounting each other.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bagemihl |first=Bruce |year=1999 |title=Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity |location=New York |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-19239-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biologicalexuber00bage/page/302 302–305] |url=https://archive.org/details/biologicalexuber00bage/page/302 }}</ref><ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 137.</ref> [[Generation time|Generation length]] of the lion is about seven years.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Generation length for mammals |author=Pacifici, M.|author2= Santini, L.|author3= Di Marco, M.|author4= Baisero, D.|author5= Francucci, L.|author6= Grottolo Marasini, G.|author7= Visconti, P. |author8= Rondinini, C. |journal=Nature Conservation |year=2013 |issue=5 |pages=87–94}}</ref> The average gestation period is around 110{{spaces}}days;<ref name="Schaller174"/> the female gives birth to a litter of between one and four cubs in a secluded den, which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave, or some other sheltered area, usually away from the pride. She will often hunt alone while the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the den.<ref name="Scott45">[[#Scott|Scott]], p. 45.</ref> Lion cubs are born blind, their eyes opening around seven days after birth. They weigh {{convert|1.2|–|2.1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age.<ref name="Schaller143">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 143.</ref> To avoid a buildup of scent attracting the attention of predators, the lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one-by-one by the nape of the neck.<ref name="Scott45"/>
The species was eradicated from [[Palestine]] by the [[Middle Ages]] and from most of the rest of Asia after the arrival of readily available firearms in the eighteenth century. Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century they became extinct in [[North Africa]] and [[Southwest Asia]]. By the late nineteenth century the lion had disappeared from [[Turkey]] and most of northern India,<ref name=zoos_encyclopedia /><ref>{{cite web |title=Past and present distribution of the lion in North Africa and Southwest Asia. |year=2001 |publisher=Asiatic Lion Information Centre |url=http://www.asiatic-lion.org/distrib.html |accessdate=2006-06-01 }}</ref> while the last sighting of a live Asiatic lion in [[Iran]] was in 1941 (between [[Shiraz]] and Jahrom, [[Fars Province]]), though the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of [[Karun]] river, [[Khūzestān Province]] in 1944. There are no subsequent reliable reports from [[Iran]].<ref name="simba"/> The subspecies now survives only in and around the [[Gir Forest National Park|Gir Forest]] of northwestern India.<ref name="Asiaticweb"/> About 300 lions live in a 1,412&nbsp;km² (558 square miles) sanctuary in the state of [[Gujarat]], which covers most of the forest. Their numbers are slowly increasing.<ref>{{cite web | author=Wildlife Conservation Trust of India | title=Asiatic Lion - Population | work=Asiatic Lion Information Centre | publisher=Wildlife Conservation Trust of India | year=2006 | url=http://www.asiaticlion.org/population-gir-forests.htm | accessdate=2007-09-15}}</ref>


Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old.<ref name="Scott45"/> Sometimes the introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time.<ref name=Estes/><ref name=Schaller148/> When first introduced to the rest of the pride, lion cubs lack confidence when confronted with adults other than their mother. They soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, however, playing among themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults.<ref name=Schaller148/> Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. Male tolerance of the cubs varies—one male could patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, while another may snarl and bat the cubs away.<ref>[[#Scott|Scott]], p. 46.</ref>
They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India and the [[Beringia|Bering land bridge]], and in the Americas from [[Yukon]] to Peru.<ref name=Harington69/> Parts of this range were occupied by subspecies that are extinct today.
[[File:Lion Cubs Phinda 2011.ogv|thumb|right|Video of a lioness and her cubs in Phinda Reserve]]


Pride lionesses often synchronise their reproductive cycles and communal rearing and suckling of the young, which suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. The synchronisation of births is advantageous because the cubs grow to being roughly the same size and have an equal chance of survival, and sucklings are not dominated by older cubs.<ref name=Estes/><ref name=Schaller148>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 147-49.</ref> Weaning occurs after six or seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about three years of age and at four to five years are capable of challenging and displacing adult males associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken at between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crandall |first=L. S. |title=The management of wild animals in captivity |year=1964 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |oclc=557916}}</ref>
==Population and conservation status==
{{Main|Lion hunting}}
[[File:Lion Gir.jpg|thumb|The Asiatic Lion, whose habitat once ranged from the Mediterranean to north-west Indian subcontinent, is today found only in the [[Gir Forest]] of [[Gujarat]], India. Only about 320 Asiatic Lions survive in the wild.<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?220509 The Mane Don't Fit]</ref>]]
Most lions now live in eastern and southern Africa, and their numbers there are rapidly decreasing, with an estimated 30–50 percent decline over the last two decades.<ref name=IUCN/> Currently, estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Bauer H, Van Der Merwe S |year= 2002|title=The African lion database |journal=Cat news |volume=36 |issue= |pages=41–53 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Chardonnet P |year=2002|title=Conservation of African lion|publisher =International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife|location=Paris, France}}</ref> down from early 1990s estimates that ranged as high as 100,000 and perhaps 400,000 in 1950. The cause of the decline is not well-understood, and may not be reversible.<ref name=IUCN/> Currently, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are considered the most significant threats to the species.<ref name="awf">{{cite web|title=AWF Wildlife: Lion|url=http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/lion|publisher=African Wildlife Foundation|accessdate=2007-08-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NATURE. The Vanishing Lions |publisher=PBS |url=http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/vanishinglions/index.html |accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref> The remaining populations are often geographically isolated from each other, which can lead to [[inbreeding]], and consequently, a lack of [[genetic diversity]]. Therefore the lion is considered a [[vulnerable species]] by the [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources]], while the Asiatic subspecies is [[critically endangered species|critically endangered]]. The lion population in the region of West Africa is isolated from lion populations of Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. The number of mature individuals in West Africa is estimated by two separate recent surveys at 850–1,160 (2002/2004). There is disagreement over the size of the largest individual population in West Africa: the estimates range from 100 to 400 lions in [[Burkina Faso]]'s [[Arly-Singou]] ecosystem.<ref name=IUCN/>


When one or more new males oust the previous males associated with a pride, the victors often [[infanticide (zoology)|kill any existing young cubs]], perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. Females often fiercely defend their cubs from a usurping male but are rarely successful unless a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against the male.<ref name="Packpus83">{{Cite journal |last1=Packer |first1=C. |last2=Pusey |first2=A. E. |date=May 1983 |title= Adaptations of female lions to infanticide by incoming males|journal= American Naturalist |volume=121 |issue=5 |pages=716–728 |doi= 10.1086/284097|s2cid=84927815 }}</ref> Cubs also die from starvation and abandonment, and predation by leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity at around two or three years of age,<ref name="Schaller44">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 44.</ref> while some females may leave when they reach the age of two.<ref name=Packer33/> When a new male lion takes over a pride, adolescents both male and female may be evicted.<ref>[[#Scott|Scott]], p. 68.</ref>
Conservation of both African and Asian lions has required the setup and maintenance of national parks and game reserves; among the best known are [[Etosha National Park]] in [[Namibia]], [[Serengeti National Park]] in Tanzania, and [[Kruger National Park]] in eastern [[South Africa]]. Outside these areas, the issues arising from lions' interaction with livestock and people usually results in the elimination of the former.<ref>{{cite web | last=Roach | first=John | title=Lions Vs. Farmers: Peace Possible? | work=National Geographic News | publisher=National Geographic | date=16 July 2003 | url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/07/0716_030716_lions.html | accessdate=2007-09-01}}</ref> In India, the last refuge of the Asiatic lion is the 1,412&nbsp;km² (558&nbsp;square miles) [[Gir Forest National Park]] in western [[India]] which had about 359&nbsp;lions (as of April 2006). As in Africa, numerous human habitations are close by with the resultant problems between lions, livestock, locals and wildlife officials.<ref>
{{cite journal |last= Saberwal|first=Vasant K|coauthors= James P. Gibbs, Ravi Chellam and A. J. T. Johnsingh |year=1994 |month=June |title= Lion-Human Conflict in the Gir Forest, India|journal=Conservation Biology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=501–507 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08020501.x}}</ref> The [[Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project]] plans to establish a second independent population of [[Asiatic Lion]]s at the [[Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary]] in the Indian state of [[Madhya Pradesh]].{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}{{cite journal |last=Johnsingh |first=A.J.T. |year=2004 |title=WII in the Field: Is Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary ready to play second home to Asiatic lions? |journal=Wildlife Institute of India Newsletter |volume=11 |issue=4 |url=http://www.wii.gov.in/publications/newsletter/winter04/wii%20in%20field.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070927222341/http://www.wii.gov.in/publications/newsletter/winter04/wii+in+field.htm |archivedate=2007-09-27 |accessdate=2007-09-20}}</ref> It is important to start a second population to serve as a [[gene pool]] for the last surviving Asiatic lions and to help develop and maintain [[genetic diversity]] enabling the species to survive.


===Health and mortality===
[[File:Cub chewing on a piece of bark with mother in 2009.jpg|thumb|Lion cub playing with a piece of bark]]
The former popularity of the Barbary lion as a zoo animal has meant that scattered lions in captivity are likely to be descended from Barbary Lion stock. This includes twelve lions at [[Port Lympne Zoo|Port Lympne Wild Animal Park]] in [[Kent]], [[England]] that are descended from animals owned by the [[King of Morocco]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bigcatrescue.org/barbary_lion_news.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051217091555/http://www.bigcatrescue.org/barbary_lion_news.htm |archivedate=2005-12-17 |title=Barbary Lion News |accessdate=2007-09-24}}</ref> Another eleven animals believed to be Barbary lions were found in [[Addis Ababa]] zoo, descendants of animals owned by [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia|Emperor Haile Selassie]]. WildLink International, in collaboration with [[Oxford University]], launched their ambitious International [[Barbary Lion#The Barbary Lion Project|Barbary Lion Project]] with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the [[Atlas Mountains]] of [[Morocco]].<ref name="yamaguchi-haddane">{{cite journal |author=Yamaguchi N, Haddane B|year=2002 |title=The North African Barbary lion and the Atlas Lion Project |journal=International Zoo News |volume=49 |issue= |pages=465–481}}</ref>


[[File:Lake-Nakuru-Lions-in-Tree.JPG|thumb|Lions in a tree near [[Lake Nakuru]]]]
Following the discovery of the decline of lion population in Africa, several coordinated efforts involving lion [[Wildlife conservation|conservation]] have been organised in an attempt to stem this decline.
Lions are one species included in the [[Species Survival Plan]], a coordinated attempt by the [[Association of Zoos and Aquariums]] to increase its chances of survival. The plan was originally started in 1982 for the Asiatic lion, but was suspended when it was found that most Asiatic lions in North American zoos were not [[genetic pollution|genetically pure]], having been hybridized with African lions. The African lion plan started in 1993, focusing especially on the South African subspecies, although there are difficulties in assessing the genetic diversity of captive lions, since most individuals are of unknown origin, making maintenance of genetic diversity a problem.<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia"/>


Lions may live 12–17 years in the wild.<ref name=Haas2005/> Although adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests most die violently from attacks by humans or other lions.<ref name="Schaller183">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 183.</ref> Lions often inflict serious injuries on members of other prides they encounter in territorial disputes or members of the home pride when fighting at a kill.<ref name="Schaller1889">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 188–189.</ref> Crippled lions and cubs may fall victim to hyenas and leopards or be trampled by buffalo or elephants. Careless lions may be maimed when hunting prey.<ref name="Schaller1890">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 189–190.</ref> [[Nile crocodile]]s may also kill and eat lions, evidenced by the occasional lion claw found in crocodile stomachs.<ref name="Guggisberg1972">{{Cite book |last=Guggisberg |first=C. A. W. |title=Crocodiles: Their Natural History, Folklore, and Conservation |year=1972 |page=195 |isbn=978-0-7153-5272-4 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |url=<!--rem url : no preview provided-->}}</ref>
===Man-eaters===
{{Main|Man-eater}}
While lions do not usually hunt people, some (usually males) seem to seek out human prey; well-publicized cases include the [[Tsavo maneaters]], where 28 railway workers building the [[Uganda Railway|Kenya-Uganda Railway]] were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge over the [[Tsavo River]] in [[Kenya]] in 1898, and the 1991 [[Mfuwe]] man-eater, which killed six people in the Laungwa River Valley in [[Zambia]].<ref>{{cite web | coauthors=Wayne Hosek | title=Man-eaters of the Field Museum: Lion of Mfuwe | work=Field Museum of Natural History | publisher=Field Museum of Natural History | year=2007| url =http://www.fieldmuseum.org/exhibits/exhibit_sites/tsavo/mfuwe.html | accessdate =2007-09-16}}</ref> In both, the hunters who killed the lions wrote books detailing the animals' predatory behavior. The Mfuwe and Tsavo incidents bear similarities: the lions in both incidents were larger than normal, lacked manes, and seemed to suffer from [[dental caries|tooth decay]]. The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favored by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that, while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Patterson |first=Bruce D. |coauthors=Ellis J. Neiburger, Ellis J.; Kasiki, Samuel M. |year=2003 |month=February |title=Tooth Breakage and Dental Disease as Causes of Carnivore-Human Conflicts |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=190–196 |id= |url=http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1644%2F1545-1542(2003)084%3C0190%3ATBADDA%3E2.0.CO%3B2 |accessdate= 2007-07-06 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2003)084<0190:TBADDA>2.0.CO;2}}</ref> In their analysis of Tsavo and man-eating generally, Kerbis Peterhans and Gnoske acknowledge that sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating, but that the behavior is "not unusual, nor necessarily 'aberrant'" where the opportunity exists; if inducements such as access to livestock or human corpses are present, lions will regularly prey upon human beings. The authors note that the relationship is well-attested amongst other pantherines and primates in the paleontological record.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.man-eater.info/gpage6.html |accessdate=2007-07-07 |last=Peterhans |first=Julian C. Kerbis |coauthors=Thomas Patrick Gnoske |title=The Science of Man-eating | journal = Journal of East African Natural History | volume = 90 | issue = 1&2 | year = 2001 | pages = 1–40 |doi=10.2982/0012-8317(2001)90[1:TSOMAL]2.0.CO;2
}}</ref>
The lion's proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behavior in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period—a number far exceeding the more famed "Tsavo" incidents of a century earlier. The incidents occurred near [[Selous Game Reserve|Selous National Park]] in [[Rufiji River|Rufiji District]] and in [[Lindi Region|Lindi Province]] near the [[Mozambique|Mozambican]] border. While the expansion of villagers into bush country is one concern, the authors argue that conservation policy must mitigate the danger because, in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi have been documented where lions seize humans from the center of substantial villages.<ref name="Packer05">{{cite journal |last=Packer |first=C. |coauthors=Ikanda, D.; Kissui, B.; Kushnir, H. |year=2005 |month=August |title=Conservation biology: lion attacks on humans in Tanzania |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=436 |issue=7053 |pages=927–928 |doi=10.1038/436927a| pmid=16107828}}</ref>


[[Tick]]s commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of the lions.<ref name="Schaller184">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 184.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Yeoman |first=Guy Henry|author2=Walker, Jane Brotherton |title=The ixodid ticks of Tanzania |year=1967 |publisher=Commonwealth Institute of Entomology |location=London |oclc=955970}}</ref> Adult forms of several [[tapeworm]] species of the genus ''[[Taenia (flatworm)|Taenia]]'' have been isolated from lion intestines, having been ingested as larvae in [[antelope]] meat.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sachs |first=R. |year=1969|title=Untersuchungen zur Artbestimmung und Differenzierung der Muskelfinnen ostafrikanischer Wildtiere [Differentiation and species determination of muscle-cysticerci in East African game animals] |journal=Zeitschrift für Tropenmedizin und Parasitologie |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=39–50 |pmid=5393325|language=de}}</ref> Lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly (''[[Stable fly|Stomoxys calcitrans]]'') in 1962, resulting in lions becoming emaciated and covered in bloody, bare patches. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many died or migrated and the local population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fosbrooke |first=H. |year=1963 |title=The stomoxys plague in Ngorongoro |journal=East African Wildlife Journal |volume=1 |issue=6 |pages=124–126 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.1963.tb00190.x}}</ref> A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions.<ref name="Nkwame06">{{Cite news | last=Nkwame | first=V. M. |title=King of the jungle in jeopardy | work=The Arusha Times| date=9 September 2006 | url=http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/2006/36/features_10.htm | access-date=4 September 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929044925/http://www.arushatimes.co.tz/2006/36/features_10.htm | archive-date=29 September 2007 | df=dmy-all}}</ref>
[[Image:Lionsoftsavo2008.jpg|thumb|The Tsavo Man-Eaters on display in the [[Field Museum of Natural History]] in [[Chicago, Illinois]].]]


Captive lions have been infected with [[canine distemper]] virus (CDV) since at least the mid-1970s.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Myers, D. L. |author2=Zurbriggen, A. |author3=Lutz, H. |author4=Pospischil, A. |date=1997 |title=Distemper: not a new disease in lions and tigers |journal=Clinical Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=180–184 |doi=10.1128/CDLI.4.2.180-184.1997 |pmid=9067652 |pmc=170498 |url=}}</ref> CDV is spread by domestic dogs and other carnivores; a 1994 outbreak in Serengeti National Park resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from [[pneumonia]] and [[encephalitis]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roelke-Parker|first1=M. E.|date=1996 |title=A canine distemper epidemic in Serengeti lions (''Panthera leo'') |journal=Nature |volume=379 |issue=6564 |pages=441–445 |doi=10.1038/379441a0|pmid=8559247 |last2=Munson |first2=L. |last3=Packer |first3=C. |last4=Kock |first4=R. |last5=Cleaveland |first5=S. |last6=Carpenter |first6=M. |last7=O'Brien |first7=S. J. |last8=Pospischil |first8=A. |last9=Hofmann-Lehmann |first9=R. |first10=Hans |last10=L. |first11=G. L. M. |last11=Mwanengele |first12=M. N. |last12=Mgasa |first13=G. A. |last13=Machange |first14=B. A. |last14=Summers |first15=M. J. G. |last15=Appel |bibcode=1996Natur.379..441R|pmc=7095363 }}</ref> [[Feline immunodeficiency virus]] and [[lentivirus]] also affect captive lions.<ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Bull, M. E. |author2=Kennedy-Stoskopf, S. |author3=Levine, J. F. |author4=Loomis, M. |author5=Gebhard, D. G. |author6=Tompkins, W. A. |date=2003 |title=Evaluation of T lymphocytes in captive African lions (''Panthera leo'') infected with feline immunodeficiency virus |journal=American Journal of Veterinary Research |volume=64 |issue=10 |pages=1293–1300 |doi=10.2460/ajvr.2003.64.1293|pmid=14596469 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author1=Poli, A. |author2=Abramo, F. |author3=Cavicchio, P. |author4=Bandecchi, P. |author5=Ghelardi, E. |author6=Pistello, M. |date=1995 |title=Lentivirus infection in an African lion: a clinical, pathologic and virologic study |journal=Journal of Wildlife Diseases |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=70–74 |doi=10.7589/0090-3558-31.1.70|pmid=7563428 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Author Robert R. Frump wrote in ''The Man-eaters of Eden'' that Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park at night in [[South Africa]] are attacked and eaten by the lions; park officials have conceded that man-eating is a problem there. Frump believes thousands may have been killed in the decades after [[South Africa under apartheid|apartheid]] sealed the park and forced the refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly walked across the park in daytime with little harm.<ref>{{cite book |last=Frump |first=RR |title=The Man-Eaters of Eden: Life and Death in Kruger National Park |year=2006 |publisher=The Lyons Press |location= |isbn=1-592288-92-9}}</ref>


===Communication===
Packer estimates more than 200 Tanzanians are killed each year by lions, [[crocodile]]s, elephants, hippos, and [[snake]]s, and that the numbers could be double that amount, with lions thought to kill at least 70 of those. Packer has documented that between 1990 and 2004, lions attacked 815 people in Tanzania, killing 563. Packer and Ikanda are among the few [[conservation movement|conservationists]] who believe western conservation efforts must take account of these matters not just because of ethical concerns about human life, but also for the long term success of conservation efforts and lion preservation.<ref name="Packer05"/>
{{multiple image|perrow=1|image1=Lion cub with mother.jpg|caption1=Head rubbing among pride members is a common social behaviour.|image2=Lion (Panthera leo) marking its territory ... (52806595064).jpg
|caption2=A male lion raises his tail while marking his territory.}}


When resting, lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are [[Bunting (animal behavior)|head rubbing]] and [[social licking]],<ref name=Schaller85>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 85.</ref> which have been compared with the role of [[allogrooming]] among primates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sparks |first=J. |title=Primate Ethology |chapter=Allogrooming in primates: a review |pages=148–175 |year=1967 |editor=Morris, D. |publisher=Aldine |location=Chicago |edition=2011 |isbn=9780202368160}}</ref> Head rubbing, nuzzling the forehead, face and neck against another lion appears to be a form of greeting<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leyhausen |first=P. |title=Verhaltensstudien an Katzen |edition=Second |year=1960 |publisher=Paul Parey |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-489-71836-9 |language=de}}</ref> and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females.<ref name=Schaller858>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 85–88.</ref> Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because lions cannot lick these areas themselves.<ref name=Schaller8891>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 88–91.</ref>
A man-eating lion was killed by game scouts in Southern Tanzania in April 2004. It is believed to have killed and eaten at least 35&nbsp;people in a series of incidents covering several villages in the Rufiji Delta coastal region.<ref>{{cite news |title=Toothache 'made lion eat humans' |author=Daniel Dickinson |date=19 October 2004 |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3756180.stm |accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref>{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}{{cite web |title=Terror from man-eating lions increasing in Tanzania |author=Ludger Kasumuni |date=28 August 2006 |publisher=IPPmedia.com |url=http://216.69.164.44/ipp/guardian/2006/08/28/73305.html |accessdate=8 March 2010}}</ref> Dr Rolf D. Baldus, the GTZ wildlife programme coordinator, commented that it was likely that the lion preyed on humans because it had a large [[abscess]] underneath a [[molar (tooth)|molar]] which was cracked in several places. He further commented that "This lion probably experienced a lot of pain, particularly when it was chewing."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Baldus |first=R |year=2006|month=march |title=A man-eating lion ''(Panthera leo)'' from Tanzania with a toothache |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |volume=52 |issue= 1 |pages= 59–62|doi=10.1007/s10344-005-0008-0}}</ref> GTZ is the German development cooperation agency and has been working with the Tanzanian government on wildlife conservation for nearly two decades. As in other cases this lion was large, lacked a mane, and had a tooth problem.
{{listen|filename=Lion raring-sound1TamilNadu178.ogg|title=Lion roar|description=A captive lion roaring}}


Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.<ref name=Schaller92102>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 103–117.</ref> A common facial expression is the "grimace face" or [[flehmen response]], which a lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose, closed eyes and relaxed ears.<ref>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], p. 95.</ref> Lions also use chemical and visual marking;<ref name=Schaller92102/> males [[Territory (animal)#Scent marking|spray urine]]<ref name="Schaller116">[[#Schaller|Schaller]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=7ann2dYn9iYC&pg=PA116 p. 116.]</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Andersen, K. F. |author2=Vulpius, T. |year=1999 |title=Urinary volatile constituents of the lion, ''Panthera leo'' |journal=Chemical Senses |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=179–189 |doi=10.1093/chemse/24.2.179 |pmid=10321819 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.<ref name=Schaller92102/>
The "All-Africa" record of man-eating generally is considered to be not Tsavo, but the lesser-known incidents in the late 1930s through the late 1940s in what was then [[Tanganyika]] (now Tanzania). George Rushby, game warden and professional hunter, eventually dispatched the pride, which over three generations is thought to have killed and eaten 1,500 to 2,000 in what is now [[Njombe]] district.<ref>{{cite book |author=Rushby GG |title= No More the Tusker |year= 1965 |publisher=W. H. Allen |location=London}}</ref>


The lion's repertoire of vocalisations is large; variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of [[growling]], [[snarling]], meowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include puffing, bleating and humming. Roaring is used to advertise its presence. Lions most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of {{convert|8|km|0}}.<ref name=Schaller10313>[[#Schaller|Schaller]], pp. 103–113.</ref> They tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into grunts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eklund |first1=R. |last2=Peters |first2=G. |last3=Ananthakrishnan |first3=G. |last4=Mabiza |first4=E. |title=An acoustic analysis of lion roars. I: Data collection and spectrogram and waveform analyses |journal=Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report |volume=51 |page=1 |year=2011 |url=http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Eklund_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001083629/http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Eklund_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ananthakrishnan |first1=G. |last2=Eklund |first2=R. |last3=Peters |first3=G. |last4=Mabiza |first4=E. |title=An acoustic analysis of lion roars. II: Vocal tract characteristics |journal=Speech, Music and Hearing Quarterly Progress and Status Report |volume=51 |page=5 |year=2011 |url=http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Ananthakrishnan_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001083621/http://roberteklund.info/pdf/Ananthakrishnan_et_al_2011_LionRoars.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref>
===In captivity===
[[File:Lion in captivity.JPG|thumb|Lion in captivity]]
Widely seen in captivity,{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}{{cite web | title=Givskud Zoo Lion Park | url=http://www.goodzoos.com/Denmark/Givskud.htm|accessdate=2007-09-07}}</ref> lions are part of a group of exotic animals that are the core of [[zoo]] exhibits since the late eighteenth century; members of this group are invariably large vertebrates and include elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, large primates, and other big cats; zoos sought to gather as many of these species as possible.<ref name="dc81">de Courcy, p. 81</ref> Though many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits,<ref>de Courcy, p. 82</ref> there are over 1000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes.{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}<ref name="WAZA">{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}{{cite web | author=Dollinger P, Geser S | title=Animals: WAZA'S virtual zoo - lion | work=WAZA'S virtual zoo| publisher=WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) | url=http://www.waza.org/virtualzoo/factsheet.php?id=112-007-002-001&view=Cats |accessdate=2007-09-07}}</ref> Lions can reach an age of over 20 years in captivity; Apollo, a resident lion of [[Honolulu Zoo]] in [[Honolulu, Hawaii|Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]], died at age 22 in August 2007. His two sisters, born in 1986, are still living.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Aguiar |first=Eloise|year=2007 |month=August |title=Honolulu zoo's old lion roars no more |journal=Honolulu Advertiser|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/08/ln/hawaii708080394.html |accessdate= 2007-09-04}}</ref> A zoo-based lion breeding programme usually takes into account the separation of the various lion subspecies, while mitigating the [[inbred|inbreeding]] that is likely to occur when animals are divided by subspecies.<ref>[http://www.catsurvivaltrust.org/lion.htm Captive Breeding and Lions in Captivity]. Retrieved on 18 September 2007</ref>
[[File:MP-panthera leo krugeri 8.jpg|thumb|Male African lion of the Transvaal subspecies (''P. l. krugeri'')]]
Lions were kept and bred by Assyrian kings as early as 850 BC,<ref name="Schaller5"/> and [[Alexander the Great]] was said to have been presented with tame lions by the [[Malhi]] of northern India.<ref>{{cite book |author=Smith, Vincent Arthur |authorlink= |title=The Early History of India |year=1924 |page=97|publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |isbn= }}</ref> Later in [[Roman era|Roman times]], lions were kept by emperors to take part in the gladiator arenas. Roman notables, including [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], [[Pompey]], and [[Julius Caesar]], often ordered the mass slaughter of hundreds of lions at a time.<ref>Thomas Wiedemann, ''Emperors and Gladiators'', Routledge, 1995, p. 60. ISBN 0-415-12164-7.</ref> In the East, lions were tamed by Indian princes, and [[Marco Polo]] reported that [[Kublai Khan]] kept lions inside.<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 17.</ref> The first European "zoos" spread amongst noble and royal families in the thirteenth century, and until the seventeenth century were called [[seraglio]]s; at that time, they came to be called [[menagerie]]s, an extension of the [[cabinet of curiosities]]. They spread from France and Italy during the [[Renaissance]] to the rest of Europe.<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, pp. 19–21, 42.</ref> In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, Lions were [[Tower of London#Menagerie|kept at the Tower of London]] in a seraglio established by [[John I of England|King John]] in the thirteenth century,<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 20.</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Owen | first=James | title=Medieval Lion Skulls Reveal Secrets of Tower of London "Zoo" | work=National Geographic Magazine | publisher=National Geographic | date=3 November 2005 | url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1103_051103_tower_lions.html | accessdate=2007-09-05}}</ref> probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] at his palace in [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire|Woodstock]], near [[Oxford]]; where lions had been reported stocked by [[William of Malmesbury]].<ref name="Blunt15">Blunt, p. 15</ref>


==Conservation==
Seraglios served as expressions of the nobility's power and wealth. Animals such as big cats and [[elephant]]s, in particular, symbolized power, and would be pitted in fights against each other or domesticated animals. By extension, menageries and seraglios served as demonstrations of the dominance of humanity over nature. Consequently, the defeat of such natural "lords" by a cow in 1682 astonished the spectators, and the flight of an elephant before a rhinoceros drew jeers. Such fights would slowly fade out in the seventeenth century with the spread of the menagerie and their appropriation by the commoners. The tradition of keeping big cats as pets would last into the nineteenth century, at which time it was seen as highly eccentric.<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, pp. 24–28.</ref>
The lion is listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]]. The Indian population is listed on [[CITES Appendix I]] and the African population on [[CITES Appendix II]].<ref name="IUCN" />


===In Africa===
[[Image:Durer lions (sketch).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Albrecht Dürer]], Lions sketch. Circa 1520]]
[[File:Lion.ogv|thumb|right|Video of a wild lioness]]


Several large and well-managed protected areas in Africa host large lion populations. Where an infrastructure for wildlife tourism has been developed, cash revenue for park management and local communities is a strong incentive for lion conservation.<ref name="IUCN" /> Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa; their numbers are rapidly decreasing, and fell by an estimated 30–50% in the late half of the 20th century. Primary causes of the decline include disease and human interference.<ref name=IUCN/> In 1975, it was estimated that since the 1950s, lion numbers had decreased by half to 200,000 or fewer.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=N. |year=1975 |title=The silent savannahs |journal=International Wildlife |volume=5 |issue=5 |pages=5–10 }}</ref> Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=H. |last2=Van Der Merwe |first2=S. |year= 2002 |title=The African lion database |journal=Cat News |volume=36 |pages=41–53}}</ref><ref name=Chardonnet2002>{{Cite book |last=Chardonnet|first=P. |year=2002|title=Conservation of African lion |url=http://conservationforce.org/pdf/conservationoftheafricanlion.pdf |publisher=International Foundation for the Conservation of Wildlife|location=Paris, France |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110184540/http://conservationforce.org/pdf/conservationoftheafricanlion.pdf}}</ref>
The presence of lions at the Tower of London was intermittent, being restocked when a monarch or his consort, such as [[Margaret of Anjou]] the wife of [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]], either sought or were given animals. Records indicate they were kept in poor conditions there in the seventeenth century, in contrast to more open conditions in [[Florence]] at the time.<ref name="Blunt16">Blunt, p. 16</ref> The menagerie was open to the public by the eighteenth century; admission was a sum of three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions.<ref name="Blunt17">Blunt, p. 17</ref> A rival menagerie at the [[Exeter Exchange]] also exhibited lions until the early nineteenth century.<ref>de Courcy, p. 8–9</ref> The Tower menagerie was closed down by [[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]],<ref name="Blunt17"/> and animals transferred to the [[London Zoo]] which opened its gates to the public on 27 April 1828.<ref name="Blunt32">Blunt, p. 32</ref>
{{quote box|align=left|quote=Animal species disappear when they cannot peacefully orbit the center of gravity that is man.|source=Pierre-Amédée Pichot, 1891<ref>Son of anglophile Amédée Pichot (Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 114.)</ref>|width=240px}}
The wild animals trade flourished alongside improved colonial trade of the nineteenth century. Lions were considered fairly common and inexpensive. Although they would barter higher than tigers, they were less costly than larger, or more difficult to transport animals such as the giraffe and hippopotamus, and much less than [[Giant Panda|pandas]].<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 122.</ref> Like other animals, lions were seen as little more than a natural, boundless commodity that was mercilessly exploited with terrible losses in capture and transportation.<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, pp. 114, 117.</ref> The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 113.</ref> Explorers and hunters exploited a popular [[Manichaeism|Manichean]] division of animals into "good" and "evil" to add thrilling value to their adventures, casting themselves as heroic figures. This resulted in big cats, always suspected of being man-eaters, representing "both the fear of nature and the satisfaction of having overcome it."<ref>Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, pp. 173, 180–183.</ref>


In the [[Republic of the Congo]], [[Odzala-Kokoua National Park]] was considered a lion stronghold in the 1990s. By 2014, no lions were recorded in the protected area so the population is considered locally extinct.<ref name=carn>{{cite journal |last1=Henschel |first1=P. |last2=Malanda |first2=G.-A. |last3=Hunter |first3=L. |title=The status of savanna carnivores in the Odzala-Kokoua National Park, northern Republic of Congo |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=2014 |volume=95 |issue=4 |pages=882−892 |doi=10.1644/13-mamm-a-306 |doi-access=free }}{{open access}}</ref> The West African lion population is isolated from the one in Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that this population consists of about 400 animals, including fewer than 250 mature individuals. They persist in three protected areas in the region, mostly in one population in the [[W National Park|W]] [[Arli National Park|A]] [[Pendjari National Park|P]] protected area complex, shared by [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Niger]]. This population is listed as [[Critically Endangered]].<ref name=Henschel2015/> Field surveys in the [[W-Arly-Pendjari Complex|WAP ecosystem]] revealed that lion occupancy is lowest in the W National Park, and higher in areas with permanent staff and thus better protection.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Henschel |first1=P. |last2=Petracca |first2=L. S. |last3=Hunter |first3=L. T. |last4=Kiki |first4=M. |last5=Sewadé |first5=C. |last6=Tehou |first6=A. |last7=Robinson |first7=H. S. |year=2016 |title=Determinants of distribution patterns and management needs in a critically endangered lion ''Panthera leo'' population |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=4 |issue=4 |page=110 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2016.00110 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[Image:Lion - melbourne zoo.jpg|thumb|Lion at [[Melbourne Zoo]] enjoying an elevated grassy area with some tree shelter]]
Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s.<ref name="Blunt208">Blunt, p. 208</ref> Further changes took place in the early twentieth century, when [[Carl Hagenbeck]] designed enclosures more closely resembling a natural habitat, with concrete 'rocks', more open space and a moat instead of bars. He designed lion enclosures for both [[Melbourne Zoo]] and Sydney's [[Taronga Zoo]], among others, in the early twentieth century. Though his designs were popular, the old bars and cage enclosures prevailed until the 1960s in many zoos.<ref name="dc69">de Courcy, p. 69</ref> In the later decades of the twentieth century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of [[mesh|wire mesh]] or [[laminated glass]] instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals, with some attractions even placing the den on ground higher than visitors, such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of [[Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden|Oklahoma City Zoological Park]].<ref name="zoos_encyclopedia"/> Lions are now housed in much larger naturalistic areas; modern recommended guidelines more closely approximate conditions in the wild with closer attention to the lions' needs, highlighting the need for dens in separate areas, elevated positions in both sun and shade where lions can sit and adequate ground cover and drainage as well as sufficient space to roam.{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}<ref name="WAZA"/>


A population occurs in Cameroon's [[Waza National Park]], where between approximately 14 and 21 animals persisted as of 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tumenta |first1=P. N. |last2=Kok |first2=J. S. |last3=van Rijssel |first3=J. C. |last4=Buij |first4=R. |last5=Croes |first5=B. M. |last6=Funston |first6=P. J. |last7=de Iongh |first7=H. H. |last8=de Haes |first8=H. A. Udo |year=2009 |title=Threat of rapid extermination of the lion (''Panthera leo leo'') in Waza National Park, Northern Cameroon |journal=African Journal of Ecology |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2028.2009.01181.x |pages=1–7 |volume=48 |issue=4|hdl=1887/14372 |s2cid=56451273 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> In addition, 50 to 150 lions are estimated to be present in Burkina Faso's [[Arly-Singou]] ecosystem.<ref name="Bauer & van der Merwe">{{Cite journal |last1=Bauer |first1=H. |last2=Van Der Merwe |first2=S. |doi=10.1017/S0030605304000055 |title=Inventory of free-ranging lions ''Panthera leo'' in Africa |journal=Oryx |volume=38 |year=2004 |issue=1 |pages=26–31|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2015, an adult male lion and a female lion were sighted in Ghana's [[Mole National Park]]. These were the first sightings of lions in the country in 39 years.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Angelici |first1=F. M. |last2=Rossi |first2=L. |year=2017 |title=Further lion, ''Panthera leo senegalensis'' Meyer, 1826, sightings in Mole National Park, Ghana, and possible first serval ''Leptailurus serval'' Schreber, 1776 record after 39 years (Mammalia Felidae) |journal=Biodiversity Journal |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=749–752 |url=http://www.biodiversityjournal.com/pdf/8(2)_749-752.pdf |access-date=9 March 2018 |archive-date=10 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310074200/http://www.biodiversityjournal.com/pdf/8(2)_749-752.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the same year, a population of up to 200 lions that was previously thought to have been [[Local extinction|extirpated]] was filmed in the [[Alatash National Park]], Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border.<ref name="NewScientist2016">{{cite magazine|magazine=New Scientist|last=Wong|first=S. |title=Hidden population of up to 200 lions found in remote Ethiopia|date=2016|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075740-hidden-population-of-up-to-200-lions-found-in-remote-ethiopia/|access-date=2 February 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201230053/https://www.newscientist.com/article/2075740-hidden-population-of-up-to-200-lions-found-in-remote-ethiopia/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="BBC Ethiopian lion, 2016">{{cite news|date=2016|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35460573|title=Lions rediscovered in Ethiopia's Alatash National Park|publisher=BBC News|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201144220/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-35460573|url-status=live}}</ref>
There have also been instances where a lion was kept by a private individual, such as the lioness [[Elsa the Lioness|Elsa]], who was raised by [[George Adamson]] and his wife [[Joy Adamson]] and came to develop a strong bond with them, particularly the latter. The lioness later achieved fame, her life being documented in a series of books and films.


In 2005, Lion Conservation Strategies were developed for West and Central Africa, and or East and Southern Africa. The strategies seek to maintain suitable habitat, ensure a sufficient wild prey base for lions, reduce factors that lead to further fragmentation of populations, and make lion–human coexistence sustainable.<ref>{{cite book |title=Conservation Strategy for the Lion West and Central Africa |publisher=IUCN |author=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |year=2006 |location=Yaounde, Cameroon |url=http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_West_and_Central_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919114530/http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_West_and_Central_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-date=19 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |year=2006 |title=Conservation Strategy for the Lion ''Panthera leo'' in Eastern and Southern Africa |publisher=IUCN |location=Pretoria, South Africa |url=http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_East_and_South_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619001314/http://www.catsg.org/fileadmin/filesharing/3.Conservation_Center/3.4._Strategies___Action_Plans/African_lion/IUCN_CatSG_2006_East_and_South_Africa_Lion_Conservation_Strategy.pdf |archive-date=19 June 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lion depredation on livestock is significantly reduced in areas where herders keep livestock in improved enclosures. Such measures contribute to mitigating [[human–lion conflict]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=Assessment and mitigation of human-lion conflict in West and Central Africa |author1=Bauer, H. |author2=de Iongh, H. |author3=Sogbohossou, E. |journal=Mammalia |year=2010 |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=363–367 |doi=10.1515/MAMM.2010.048|s2cid=86228533 }}</ref>
===Baiting and taming===
{{Main|Lion-baiting|Lion taming}}
[[File:Lion tamer (LOC pga.03749).jpg|left|thumb|Nineteenth century [[etching]] of a lion tamer in a cage of lions]]
Lion-baiting is a [[blood sport]] involving the [[animal-baiting|baiting]] of lions in combat with other animals, usually dogs. Records of it exist in ancient times through until the seventeenth century. It was finally banned in [[Vienna]] by 1800 and England in 1825.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hone |first= William |editor= Kyle Grimes|title= The Every-Day Book |origyear=1825–1826 |url=http://www.uab.edu/english/hone/etexts/edb/day-pages/207-july26.html |accessdate=2007-09-05 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Alabama at Birmingham |page=26 |chapter=July |chapterurl=http://www.uab.edu/english/hone/etexts/edb/indices/index.html#jul}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Blaisdell |first=Warren H. |year=1997 |month=November |title= How A Lion Fight Caused England To Stop The Breeding Of Both Ring And Pit Bulldogs|journal=American Bulldog Review |volume=3 |issue=4 |url=http://www.american-bulldog.com/how_a_lion.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080424001716/http://www.american-bulldog.com/how_a_lion.htm |archivedate=2008-04-24 |accessdate= 2007-09-05}}</ref>


===In Asia===
Lion taming refers to the practice of taming lions for entertainment, either as part of an established [[circus]] or as an individual act, such as [[Siegfried & Roy]]. The term is also often used for the taming and display of other big cats such as [[tiger]]s, [[leopard]]s, and [[cougar]]s. The practice was pioneered in the first half of the nineteenth century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American Isaac Van Amburgh who both toured widely, and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers.<ref name = "baratay187"/> Van Amburgh performed before Queen [[Victoria of the United Kingdom]] in 1838 when he toured [[Great Britain]]. Martin composed a [[pantomime]] titled ''Les Lions de Mysore'' ("the lions of Mysore"), an idea that Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed [[equestrianism]] acts as the central display of circus shows, but truly entered public consciousness in the early twentieth century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of human over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries.<ref name="baratay187">Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier, p. 187.</ref> The ultimate proof of a tamer's dominance and control over a lion is demonstrated by placing his head in the lion's mouth. The now iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American [[Clyde Beatty]] (1903–1965).<ref>{{cite book | first=David | last=Feldman | authorlink=David Feldman (author) | year=1993 | title=How Does Aspirin Find a Headache? | edition= | publisher=HarperCollins | location= | isbn= 0-06-016923-0 }}</ref>
[[File:Lion Gir.jpg|thumb|A lioness in Gir National Park]]
The last refuge of the Asiatic lion population is the {{cvt|1412|km2}} Gir National Park and surrounding areas in the [[Saurashtra (region)|region of Saurashtra]] or [[Kathiawar Peninsula]] in Gujarat State, India. The population has risen from approximately 180 lions in 1974 to about 400 in 2010.<ref name="Singh, Gibson">{{Cite journal |last1=Singh | first1=H. S. |last2=Gibson |first2=L. |title=A conservation success story in the otherwise dire megafauna extinction crisis: The Asiatic lion (''Panthera leo persica'') of Gir forest |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=144 |issue=5 |pages=1753–1757 |year=2011 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2011.02.009| bibcode=2011BCons.144.1753S}}</ref> It is geographically isolated, which can lead to [[inbreeding]] and reduced [[genetic diversity]]. Since 2008, the Asiatic lion has been listed as [[Endangered]] on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name=Breitenmoser2008/> By 2015, the population had grown to 523 individuals inhabiting an area of {{cvt|7000|km2}} in Saurashtra.<ref name=Venkataraman2016>{{cite book |author=Venkataraman, M. |year=2016 |chapter=Wildlife and human impacts in the Gir landscape |title=Human Animal Conflict in Agro-Pastoral Context: Issues & Policies |editor1=Agrawal, P. K. |editor2=Verghese, A. |editor3=Krishna, S. R. |editor4=Subaharan, K. |publisher=Indian Council of Agricultural Research |location=New Delhi |pages=32−40}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Singh, A. P. |year=2017 |title=The Asiatic Lion (''Panthera leo persica''): 50 Years Journey for Conservation of an Endangered Carnivore and its Habitat in Gir Protected Area, Gujarat, India |journal=Indian Forester |volume=143 |issue=10 |pages=993–1003}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Singh, H. S. |year=2017 |title=Dispersion of the Asiatic lion ''Panthera leo persica'' and its survival in human-dominated landscape outside the Gir forest, Gujarat, India |journal=Current Science |volume=112 |issue=5 |pages=933–940 |doi=10.18520/cs/v112/i05/933-940 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2017, about 650 individuals were recorded during the Asiatic Lion Census.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lion population roars to 650 in Gujarat forests|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Lion-population-roars-to-650-in-Gujarat-forests/articleshow/59907625.cms|author=Kaushik, H.|newspaper=The Times of India|date=2017|access-date=9 August 2017|archive-date=8 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808193821/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/lion-population-roars-to-650-in-gujarat-forests/articleshow/59907625.cms|url-status=live}}</ref>


The presence of numerous human settlements close to Gir National Park resulted in conflict between lions, local people and their livestock.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=V. K. |last1=Saberwal |first2=J. P. |last2=Gibbs |first3=R. |last3=Chellam |first4=A. J. T. |last4=Johnsingh |title=Lion-Human Conflict in the Gir Forest, India |date=1994 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1994.08020501.x |journal=Conservation Biology |issue=2 |volume=8 |pages=501–507|bibcode=1994ConBi...8..501S}}</ref><ref name=Venkataraman2016 /> Some consider the presence of lions a benefit, as they keep populations of crop damaging herbivores in check.<ref name=Meena2016>{{cite book |author=Meena, V. |year=2016 |chapter=Wildlife and human impacts in the Gir landscape |editor=Agrawal, P. K. |editor2=Verghese, A. |editor3=Radhakrishna, S. |editor4=Subaharan, K. |title=Human Animal Conflict in Agro-Pastoral Context: Issues & Policies |publisher=Indian Council of Agricultural Research |location=New Delhi}}</ref>
==Cultural depictions==
{{Details|Cultural depictions of lions}}
[[File:Lion Darius Palace Louvre Sb3298.jpg|thumb|upright|Lion on a decorative panel from [[Darius I the Great]]'s palace during [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire.]] (550&ndash;330 BC).]]
[[File:Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[Lion Capital of Asoka]], originally erected around 250 BC atop an [[Ashoka Pillar]] at [[Sarnath]] is the national emblem of [[India]].]]
[[File:Una-lion.jpg|thumb|upright|The lion is a popular symbol and mascot of high schools, colleges and universities throughout the United States. This statue is on the campus of the [[University of North Alabama]].]]
[[File:Jerusalem-coat-of-arms.svg|thumb|upright|left|The emblem of [[Jerusalem]] is a lion standing in front of the [[Western Wall]] and flanked by [[olive branch]]es.]]
[[File:Mycenae lion gate detail dsc06384.jpg|thumb|upright|The Lion Gate of [[Mycenae]] (detail)—two lionesses [[confronted-animals|flank]] the central column, c. 1300 BC]]
[[File:Cartercoatofarms.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Carter of Castle Martin coat of arms showing "rampant combatant" lions.]]
[[File:matha.png|thumb|upright|"[[Bharat Mata]]" ("Mother India"), [[National personification]] of [[India]], depicted with an Asiatic/[[Asiatic lion|Indian lion]] at her side]]
[[File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg|thumb|Flag of Sri Lanka]]
The lion has been an icon for humanity for thousands of years, appearing in cultures across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Despite incidents of attacks on humans, lions have enjoyed a positive depiction in culture as strong but noble. A common depiction is their representation as "[[Monarchy|king]] of the jungle" or "king of the beasts"; hence, the lion has been a popular symbol of royalty and stateliness,<ref name="Garai73">{{cite book |last=Garai |first=Jana |title=The Book of Symbols |year=1973 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=671-21773-9}}</ref> as well as a symbol of bravery; it is featured in several [[Aesop's Fables|fables]] of the
[[6th century BC|sixth century BC]] [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] storyteller [[Aesop]].<ref>{{cite book| author=Aesop|coauthors= Gibbs L |title=Aesop's Fables |series=Oxford World's Classics |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0192840509}}</ref>


===Captive breeding===
Representations of lions date back 32,000&nbsp;years; the [[lion man|lion-headed]] ivory carving from Vogelherd cave in the [[Swabian Alb]] in southwestern [[Germany]] has been determined to be about 32,000&nbsp;years old from the [[Aurignacian]] culture.<ref name="BurgerJ-Molecular-phylogeny"/> Two lions were depicted mating in the Chamber of Felines in 15,000-year-old [[Paleolithic]] [[cave painting]]s in the [[Lascaux]] caves. Cave lions are also depicted in the [[Chauvet Cave]], discovered in 1994; this has been dated at 32,000&nbsp;years of age,<ref name="Packer00"/> though it may be of similar or younger age to Lascaux.<ref>{{cite conference| first=Christian | last=Züchner | title=Grotte Chauvet Archaeologically Dated | date=September 1998 | location=International Rock Art Congress IRAC ´98 - Vila Real – Portugal | url=http://www.uf.uni-erlangen.de/chauvet/chauvet.html | accessdate =2007-08-27}}</ref>
[[File:India Animals.jpg|thumb|Two captive male Asiatic lions in [[Sanjay Gandhi National Park]], India]]


Lions imported to Europe before the middle of the 19th century were possibly foremost Barbary lions from North Africa, or Cape lions from Southern Africa.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barnett |first1=R. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2=N. |last3=Shapiro |first3=B. |last4=Nijman |first4=V. |year=2007 |title=Using ancient DNA techniques to identify the origin of unprovenanced museum specimens, as illustrated by the identification of a 19th century lion from Amsterdam |url=http://dpc.uba.uva.nl/cgi/t/text/get-pdf?c=ctz;idno=7602a02 |journal=Contributions to Zoology |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=87–94 |access-date=27 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522041326/http://dpc.uba.uva.nl/cgi/t/text/get-pdf?c=ctz;idno=7602a02 |archive-date=22 May 2011 |url-status=dead |doi=10.1163/18759866-07602002 |s2cid=2131247 }}</ref> Another 11 animals thought to be Barbary lions kept in [[Addis Ababa Zoo]] are descendants of animals owned by [[Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia|Emperor Haile Selassie]]. WildLink International in collaboration with [[Oxford University]] launched an ambitious International [[Barbary lion|Barbary Lion Project]] with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the [[Atlas Mountains]] of Morocco.<ref name="yamaguchi-haddane">{{Cite journal |last=Yamaguchi |first=N. |author2=Haddane, B. |year=2002 |title=The North African Barbary Lion and the Atlas Lion Project |journal=International Zoo News |volume=49 |pages=465–481}}</ref> However, a genetic analysis showed that the captive lions at Addis Ababa Zoo were not Barbary lions, but rather closely related to wild lions in Chad and Cameroon.<ref name="Bruche_al2012">{{Cite journal |last=Bruche |first=S. |author2=Gusset, M. |author3=Lippold, S. |author4=Barnett, R. |author5=Eulenberger, K. |author6=Junhold, J. |author7=Driscoll, C. A. |author8=Hofreiter, M. |title=A genetically distinct lion (''Panthera leo'') population from Ethiopia |journal=European Journal of Wildlife Research |year=2012 |pages=215–225 |doi=10.1007/s10344-012-0668-5 |volume=59 |issue=2|s2cid=508478 }}</ref>
[[Ancient Egypt]] venerated the lioness (the fierce hunter) as their [[List of war deities|war deities]] and among those in the [[Egyptian pantheon]] are, [[Bastet|Bast]], [[Mafdet]], [[Menhit]], [[Pakhet]], [[Sekhmet]], [[Tefnut]], and the [[Sphinx]];<ref name="Garai73"/> Among the Egyptian pantheon also are sons of these goddesses such as, [[Maahes]], and, as attested by Egyptians as a [[Nubia]]n deity, [[Dedun]].<ref>{{cite web | author=Cass S | title=Maahes | work=Encyclopedia Mythica | publisher=Encyclopedia Mythica | year=1998| url=http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/maahes.html | accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Lindemans MF | title=Dedun | work=Encyclopedia Mythica | publisher=Encyclopedia Mythica | year=1997 | url=http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dedun.html | accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref>


In 1982, the [[Association of Zoos and Aquariums]] started a [[Species Survival Plan]] for the Asiatic lion to increase its chances of survival. In 1987, it was found that most lions in North American zoos were hybrids between African and Asiatic lions.<ref name=OBrien1987>{{cite journal |author1=O'Brien, S. J. |author2=Joslin, P. |author3=Smith, G. L. III |author4=Wolfe, R. |author5=Schaffer, N. |author6=Heath, E. |author7=Ott-Joslin, J. |author8=Rawal, P. P. |author9=Bhattacharjee, K. K. |author10=Martenson, J. S. |year=1987 |title=Evidence for African origins of founders of the Asiatic lion Species Survival Plan |journal=Zoo Biology |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=99–116 |doi=10.1002/zoo.1430060202 |url=http://dobzhanskycenter.bio.spbu.ru/pdf/sjop/MS129_O%27Brien_ZooBiol.pdf |access-date=25 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225092713/http://dobzhanskycenter.bio.spbu.ru/pdf/sjop/MS129_O%27Brien_ZooBiol.pdf |archive-date=25 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Breeding programs need to note origins of the participating animals to avoid cross-breeding different subspecies and thus reducing their conservation value.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Frankham |first1=R. |last2=Ballou |first2=J. |last3=Briscoe |first3=D. |title=Introduction to Conservation Genetics |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2009| isbn=978-0-521-70271-3 |location=Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid |edition=Second |chapter=Genetic management of Captive Populations |pages=430–452 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLZKnsCk89wC&pg=PA437 |access-date=25 May 2019}}</ref> Captive breeding of lions was halted to eliminate individuals of unknown origin and [[Pedigree (animal)|pedigree]]. Wild-born lions were imported to American zoos from Africa between 1989 and 1995. Breeding was continued in 1998 in the frame of an African lion Species Survival Plan.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Daigle, C. L. |author2=Brown, J. L. |author3=Carlstead, K. |author4=Pukazhenthi, B. |author5=Freeman, E. W. |author6=Snider, R. J. |year=2015 |title=Multi-institutional survey of social, management, husbandry and environmental factors for the SSP African lion Panthera leo population: examining the effects of a breeding moratorium in relation to reproductive success |journal=International Zoo Yearbook |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=198–213 |doi=10.1111/izy.12073 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270901189}}</ref>
Careful examination of the lion deities noted in many ancient cultures reveal that many are lioness also. Admiration for the co-operative hunting strategies of lionesses was evident in very ancient times. Most of the ''lion gates'' depict lionesses. The [[Nemean lion]] was symbolic in Ancient Greece and Rome, represented as the constellation and zodiac sign [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]], and described in mythology, where its skin was borne by the hero [[Heracles]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Graves |first=R |authorlink=Robert Graves |title=Greek Myths |year=1955|publisher=Penguin |location=London |isbn=0-14-001026-2|pages=465–469 |chapter=The First Labour:The Nemean Lion}}</ref>


About 77% of the captive lions registered in the [[International Species Information System]] in 2006 were of unknown origin; these animals might have carried genes that are extinct in the wild and may therefore be important to the maintenance of the overall [[genetic variability]] of the lion.<ref name=BarnettYamaguchi2006>{{Cite journal |last1=Barnett |first1=R. |last2=Yamaguchi |first2 =N. |last3=Barnes | first3=I. |last4=Cooper |first4=A. |date=2006 |title=Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion ''Panthera leo'': Implications for its ''ex situ'' conservation |journal=Conservation Genetics |volume=7 |issue=4 |pages=507–514 |doi=10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0 |bibcode=2006ConG....7..507B |s2cid=24190889 |url=http://abc.zoo.ox.ac.uk/Papers/consgen06_lion.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060824064412/http://abc.zoo.ox.ac.uk/Papers/consgen06_lion.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 August 2006 }}</ref>
The lion is the biblical emblem of the [[tribe of Judah]] and later the [[Kingdom of Judah]]. It is contained within Jacob's blessing to his fourth son in the penultimate chapter of the [[Book of Genesis]], "Judah is a lion's whelp; On prey, my son have you grown. He crouches, lies down like a lion, like the king of beasts—who dare rouse him?" (Genesis 49:9<ref>[[New Jewish Publication Society of America Version|JPS Tanakh]]</ref>). In the modern state of [[Israel]], the lion remains the symbol of the capital city of [[Jerusalem]], emblazoned on both the [[Flag of Jerusalem|flag]] and [[Coat of arms of Jerusalem|coat of arms]] of the city.


==Interactions with humans==
The lion was a prominent symbol in ancient [[Mesopotamia]] (from [[Sumer]] up to [[Assyria]]n and [[Babylonia]]n times), where it was strongly associated with kingship.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cassin |first=Elena |year=1981 |title= Le roi et le lion |journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions |volume=298 |issue=198-4 |pages=355–401 |doi= |url= http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rhr_0035-1423_1981_num_198_4_4828 |format=PDF|accessdate=2009-12-03}}</ref> The classic Babylonian lion motif, found as a statue, carved or painted on walls, is often referred to as the ''striding lion of Babylon''. It is in Babylon that the biblical [[Daniel]] is said to have been delivered from the lion's den.<ref>[[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] 6</ref> Such symbolism was appropriated by Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq for their [[Lion of Babylon tank]], with the technology adapted from a Russian model.
===In zoos and circuses===
{{multiple image|align=right|direction=vertical
|image1=Lion - melbourne zoo.jpg|caption1=Lion at [[Melbourne Zoo]]
|image2=Lion tamer (LOC pga.03749).jpg|caption2=19th-century [[etching]] of a lion tamer in a cage with lions and tigers}}
Lions are part of a group of exotic animals that have been central to zoo exhibits since the late 18th century. Although many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits,<ref name="dc81">[[#Courcy|de Courcy]], pp. 81–82.</ref> there are more than 1,000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes.<ref name="WAZA">{{cite web |last1= Dollinger |first1= P. |last2= Geser |first2= S. |title=Lion: In the Zoo (subpage) |work= Visit the Zoo |publisher= WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums) |url= http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/cats-1254385523/panthera-leo |access-date= 5 April 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110929135611/http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/cats-1254385523/panthera-leo |archive-date= 29 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lions can live over twenty years in captivity; for example, three sibling lions at the [[Honolulu Zoo]] lived to the age of 22 in 2007.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Aguiar|first=E.|date=2007|title=Honolulu zoo's old lion roars no more|newspaper=Honolulu Advertiser|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/08/ln/hawaii708080394.html|access-date=4 September 2007|archive-date=25 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225033236/http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/08/ln/hawaii708080394.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Lum|first=C.|date=2007|title=Zoo puts end to 2 lions' suffering|newspaper=Honolulu Advertiser|url=http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Feb/25/ln/hawaii902250384.html|access-date=29 September 2020|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106104728/http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Feb/25/ln/hawaii902250384.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>


The first European "zoos" spread among noble and royal families in the 13th century, and until the 17th century were called [[seraglio]]s. At that time, they came to be called [[menagerie]]s, an extension of the [[cabinet of curiosities]]. They spread from France and Italy during the [[Renaissance]] to the rest of Europe.<ref>[[#Baratay|Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier]], pp. 19–21, 42.</ref> In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, lions were [[Tower of London#Menagerie|kept at the Tower of London]] in a seraglio established by [[John of England|King John]] in the 13th century;<ref>[[#Baratay|Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier]], p. 20.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Owen |first=J. |title=Medieval Lion Skulls Reveal Secrets of Tower of London "Zoo"|magazine=National Geographic Magazine |date=2005 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1103_051103_tower_lions.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051105025912/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1103_051103_tower_lions.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 November 2005| access-date=5 September 2007}}</ref> this was probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] at his hunting lodge in [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire]], where according to [[William of Malmesbury]] lions had been stocked.<ref name=Blunt15>[[#Blunt|Blunt]], p. 15.</ref>
In the [[Puranic]] texts of [[Hinduism]], [[Narasimha]] ("man-lion") a half-lion, half-man incarnation or ([[avatara]]) of [[Vishnu]], is worshipped by his devotees and saved the child devotee [[Prahlada]] from his father, the evil demon king [[Hiranyakashipu]];<ref>[http://srimadbhagavatam.com/1/3/18/en1 Bhag-P 1.3.18] "In the fourteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as Nrisimha and bifurcated the strong body of the atheist Hiranyakasipu with His nails, just as a carpenter pierces cane."</ref> Vishnu takes the form of half-man/half-[[Asiatic Lions|lion]], in Narasimha, having a human torso and lower body, but with a lion-like face and claws.<ref>[http://srimadbhagavatam.com/7/8/19-22/en1 Bhag-P 7.8.19–22]</ref> Narasimha is worshiped as "Lion God."


Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at [[London Zoo]] until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s.<ref name=Blunt208>[[#Blunt|Blunt]], p. 208.</ref> Further changes took place in the early 20th century when [[Carl Hagenbeck]] designed enclosures with concrete "rocks", more open space and a moat instead of bars, more closely resembling a natural habitat. Hagenbeck designed lion enclosures for both [[Melbourne Zoo]] and Sydney's [[Taronga Zoo]]; although his designs were popular, the use of bars and caged enclosures prevailed in many zoos until the 1960s.<ref name=dc69>[[#Courcy|de Courcy]], p. 69.</ref> In the late 20th century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of wire mesh or laminated glass instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals; some attractions such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of [[Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden|Oklahoma City Zoological Park]] placed the den on ground level, higher than visitors.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Grisham |first=J. |editor-first=C. E. |editor-last=Bell |title=Lion |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos |volume=2: G–P |year=2001 |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn |location=Chicago |isbn=978-1-57958-174-9 |pages=733–739}}</ref>
[[Singh]] is an [[ancient]] [[India]]n [[Vedic Sanskrit|vedic]] name meaning "lion" ([[Asiatic lion]]), dating back over 2000 years to [[History of India|ancient India]]. It was originally only used by [[Rajputs]] a [[Hindu]] [[Kshatriya]] or military [[caste]] in India. After the birth of the [[Khalsa]] brotherhood in 1699, the [[Sikh]]s also adopted the name "Singh" due to the wishes of [[Guru Gobind Singh]]. Along with millions of Hindu Rajputs today, it is also used by over 20 million [[Sikhs]] worldwide.<ref>Dr. McCleod, Head of Sikh Studies, Department of South Asian Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.<!--I thought we only cited published sources?--></ref><ref>Khushwant Singh, ''A History of the Sikhs, Volume I''</ref>


[[Lion taming]] has been part of both established [[circus]]es and individual acts such as [[Siegfried & Roy]]. The practice began in the early 19th century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American [[Isaac A. Van Amburgh|Isaac Van Amburgh]], who both toured widely and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers.<ref name=baratay187/> Van Amburgh performed before [[Queen Victoria]] in 1838 when he toured Great Britain. Martin composed a [[pantomime]] titled ''Les Lions de Mysore'' ("the lions of Mysore"), an idea Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed [[equestrianism]] acts as the central display of circus shows and entered public consciousness in the early 20th century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of human over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries.<ref name=baratay187>[[#Baratay|Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier]], p. 187.</ref> The ultimate proof of a tamer's dominance and control over a lion is demonstrated by the placing of the tamer's head in the lion's mouth. The now-iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American [[Clyde Beatty]] (1903–1965).<ref>{{Cite book |first=D. |last=Feldman |author-link=David Feldman (author) |year=1993 |title=How Does Aspirin Find a Headache? |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York |isbn=978-0-06-016923-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/howdoesaspirinfi00davi}}</ref>
Found famously on numerous [[flags]] and [[coat of arms|coats of arms]] all across Asia and Europe, the Asiatic lions also stand firm on the [[National Emblem of India]].<ref>{{cite web | author=Government of India | title=Know India: State Emblem | work=National Portal of India | publisher=National Informatics Centre | year=2005 | url=http://india.gov.in/knowindia/state_emblem.php | accessdate =2007-08-27}}</ref>


===Hunting and games===
Farther south on the [[Indian subcontinent]], the Asiatic lion is symbolic for the [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]],<ref>{{cite web | author=Government of Sri Lanka | title=Sri Lanka National Flag | publisher=Government of Sri Lanka | date=| url=http://www.gov.lk/info/index.asp?mi=19&xp=52&xi=54&xl=3&o=0&t=| archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080327112704/http://www.gov.lk/info/index.asp?mi=19&xp=52&xi=54&xl=3&o=0&t=| archivedate=2008-03-27 | accessdate=2007-08-06}}</ref> [[Sri Lanka]]'s ethnic majority; the term derived from the Indo-Aryan ''Sinhala'', meaning the "lion people" or "people with lion blood", while a sword wielding lion is the central figure on the national [[flag of Sri Lanka]].<ref>{{cite web | author=Government of Sri Lanka | title=Article 6: The National Flag | work=Official Website of the Government of Sri Lanka | publisher=Government of Sri Lanka | date=| url=http://www.priu.gov.lk/Cons/1978Constitution/Schedle_2_Amd.html | accessdate=2007-08-06}}</ref>
{{Main|Lion hunting}}
{{See also|Lion baiting}}
[[File:Sculpted reliefs depicting Ashurbanipal, the last great Assyrian king, hunting lions, gypsum hall relief from the North Palace of Nineveh (Irak), c. 645-635 BC, British Museum (16722183731).jpg|thumb|[[Bas-relief]] of a wounded lioness from [[Nineveh]], {{circa|645–635 BC}}]]
Lion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal tradition, intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature. Such hunts took place in a reserved area in front of an audience. The monarch was accompanied by his men and controls were put in place to increase their safety and ease of killing. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an [[ancient Egypt]]ian inscription dated circa 1380 BC that mentions Pharaoh [[Amenhotep&nbsp;III]] killing 102 lions in ten years "with his own arrows". The [[Assyria]]n emperor [[Ashurbanipal]] had one of his lion hunts depicted on a sequence of [[Assyrian palace reliefs]] {{circa|640 BC}}, known as the [[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]. Lions were also hunted during the [[Mughal Empire]], where Emperor [[Jahangir]] is said to have excelled at it.<ref name=Jackson156>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 156–159.</ref> In [[Ancient Rome]], lions were kept by emperors for [[Venatio|hunts]], [[Bestiarii|gladiator fights]] and [[Damnatio ad bestias|executions]].<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 142.</ref>


The [[Maasai people]] have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hazzah |first1=L. |last2=Borgerhoof Mulder |first2=M. |last3=Frank |first3=L. |year=2009 |title=Lions and warriors: Social factors underlying declining African lion populations and the effect of incentive-based management in Kenya |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=142 |issue= 11|pages=2428–2437 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2009.06.006|bibcode=2009BCons.142.2428H }}</ref> During the [[Scramble for Africa|European colonisation of Africa]] in the 19th century, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered pests and lion skins were sold for [[Pound sterling|£1]] each.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 166.</ref> The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.<ref>[[#Baratay|Baratay & Hardouin-Fugier]], p. 113.</ref> [[Trophy hunting]] of lions in recent years has been met with controversy, notably with the [[killing of Cecil the lion]] in mid-2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Capecchi |first1=Christina |last2=Rogers |first2=Katie |title=Killer of Cecil the lion finds out that he is a target now, of internet vigilantism |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=30 July 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/cecil-the-lion-walter-palmer.html |access-date=30 July 2015 |archive-date=29 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729215743/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/30/us/cecil-the-lion-walter-palmer.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The Asiatic lion is a common motif in [[Chinese art]]. They were first used in art during the late [[Spring and Autumn Period]] (fifth or sixth century BC), and became much more popular during the [[Han Dynasty]] (206 BC – AD 220), when [[imperial guardian lions]] started to be placed in front of imperial palaces for protection. Because lions have never been native to China, early depictions were somewhat unrealistic; after the introduction of [[Buddhist art]] to China in the [[Tang Dynasty]] (after the sixth century AD), lions were usually depicted without wings, their bodies became thicker and shorter, and their manes became curly.<ref>Li Ling (May 2002). "{{cite web |url=http://www.cityu.edu.hk/ccs/Newsletter/newsletter4/Lion/Lion.htm |title= The Two-Way Process in the Age of Globalization |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050406143133/http://www.cityu.edu.hk/ccs/Newsletter/newsletter4/Lion/Lion.htm |archivedate=2005-04-06}}", translated by Ronald Egan. Ex/Change Newsletter from [[City University of Hong Kong]], Issue 4. Retrieved 26 September 2007.</ref> The [[lion dance]] is a form of traditional dance in [[Chinese culture]] in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume, often with musical accompaniment from cymbals, drums and gongs. They are performed at [[Chinese New Year]], the [[Mid-Autumn Festival|August Moon Festival]] and other celebratory occasions for good luck.<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/lion-dance/www/about/index.html MIT Lion Dance Club - about]. Retrieved 26 September 2007.</ref>


===Man-eating===
The [[island nation]] of [[Singapore]] (''Singapura'') derives its name from the [[Malay language|Malay]] words {{lang|ms|''singa''}} (lion) and {{lang|ms|''pura''}} (city), which in turn is from the [[Tamil language|Tamil]]-[[Sanskrit]] சிங்க ''singa'' {{lang|sa|सिंह}} {{IAST|''siṃha''}} and {{lang|sa|पुर}} புர {{IAST|''pura''}}, which is cognate to the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|el|''πόλις''}}, ''pólis''.{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2010}} {{cite web | url=http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/S0424600.html | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080629044446/http://www.bartleby.com/61/46/S0424600.html | archivedate=2008-06-29|title=Singapore| work=The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition|year=2000|publisher=bartleby.com|accessdate=2006-04-14 }}</ref> According to the [[Malay Annals]], this name was given by a fourteenth century [[Sumatra]]n Malay prince named [[Sang Nila Utama]], who, on alighting the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast on shore that his chief minister identified as a lion (Asiatic lion).{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Dead link|date=March 2010}} {{cite web| title=Early History | url=http://www.sg/explore/history.htm | publisher=Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, Singapore | accessdate=2006-04-14 }}</ref>
[[File:Lionsoftsavo2008.jpg|thumb|The Tsavo maneaters of East Africa on display in the [[Field Museum of Natural History]] in Chicago]]
{{Further information|Man-eating animal#Lions{{!}}Man-eater lions}}
Lions do not usually hunt humans but some (usually males) seem to seek them out. One well-publicised case is the [[Tsavo maneaters]]; in 1898, 28 officially recorded railway workers building the [[Uganda Railway]] were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge in Kenya.<ref name=Patterson>{{cite book |last=Patterson |first=B. D. |year=2004 |title=The Lions of Tsavo: Exploring the Legacy of Africa's Notorious Man-Eaters |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-136333-4}}</ref> The hunter who killed the lions wrote a book detailing the animals' predatory behaviour; they were larger than normal and lacked manes, and one seemed to suffer from tooth decay. The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favoured by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Patterson |first=B. D. |author2=Neiburger, E. J.|author3=Kasiki, S. M. |date=2003 |title=Tooth Breakage and Dental Disease as Causes of Carnivore–Human Conflicts |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=190–196 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2003)084<0190:TBADDA>2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating but the behaviour is not unusual, nor necessarily aberrant.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Peterhans |first1=J. C. K. |first2=T. P. | last2=Gnoske |title=The Science of Man-eating |journal=Journal of East African Natural History |volume=90 |issue=1&2 |year=2001 |pages=1–40 |doi=10.2982/0012-8317(2001)90[1:TSOMAL]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}}</ref>


Lions' proclivity for [[Man-eating animal#Lions|man-eating]] has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behaviour in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period. The incidents occurred near [[Selous Game Reserve]] in [[Rufiji River]] and in [[Lindi Region]] near the Mozambican border. While the expansion of villages into bush country is one concern, the authors argue conservation policy must mitigate the danger because in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi in which lions seize humans from the centres of substantial villages have been documented.<ref name=Packer05>{{Cite journal |last1=Packer |first1=C. |last2=Ikanda | first2= D. |last3=Kissui| first3= B. |last4=Kushnir| first4= H. |date=2005 |title=Conservation biology: lion attacks on humans in Tanzania |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=436 |issue=7053 |pages=927–928 |doi=10.1038/436927a| pmid=16107828 |bibcode=2005Natur.436..927P |s2cid=3190757}}</ref> Another study of 1,000 people attacked by lions in southern Tanzania between 1988 and 2009 found that the weeks following the [[full moon]], when there was less moonlight, were a strong indicator of increased night-time attacks on people.<ref name=fullmoon>{{cite journal |title=Fear of Darkness, the Full Moon and the Nocturnal Ecology of African Lions |last=Packer |first=C. |journal=[[PLOS One]] |date=2011 |volume=6 |issue=7 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0022285 |author2=Swanson, A. |author3=Ikanda, D. |author4=Kushnir, H. |page=e22285 |pmid=21799812 |pmc=3140494|bibcode=2011PLoSO...622285P|doi-access=free}}</ref>
"[[Aslan]]" or "Arslan" (Ottoman ارسلان ''arslān'' and اصلان ''aṣlān'') is the [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] word for "lion". It was used as a title by a number of [[Seljuk Turks|Seljuk]] and [[Ottoman Dynasty|Ottoman]] rulers, including [[Alp Arslan]] and [[Ali Pasha]], and is a [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]/[[Iranian languages|Iranian]] name.


According to Robert R. Frump, Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park, South Africa, at night are attacked and eaten by lions; park officials have said man-eating is a problem there. Frump said thousands may have been killed in the decades after [[apartheid]] sealed the park and forced refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly crossed the park in daytime with little harm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frump |first=R. R. |title=The Man-Eaters of Eden: Life and Death in Kruger National Park |year=2006 |publisher=The Lyons Press |isbn=978-1-59228-892-2}}</ref>
"Lion" was the nickname of medieval warrior rulers with a reputation for bravery, such as [[Richard I of England]], known as Richard the Lionheart,<ref name="Garai73"/> [[Henry the Lion]] ({{lang-de|Heinrich der Löwe}}), [[Duke of Saxony]] and [[Robert III of Flanders]] nicknamed "The Lion of Flanders"—a major [[Flanders|Flemish]] national icon up to the present. Lions are frequently depicted on [[coat of arms|coats of arms]], either as a device on shields themselves, or as [[supporters]]. (The lioness{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}<ref>{{Dead link|date=March 2010}}{{cite web|title=Arms of Margaret Norrie McCain, The Public Register of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada|url=http://www.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project-pic.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=538&ProjectElementID=1883|accessdate=2008-05-24}}{{dead link|date=April 2010}}</ref> is much more infrequent.) The formal language of [[heraldry]], called [[blazon]], employs French terms to describe the images precisely. Such descriptions specified whether lions or other creatures were "rampant" or "passant", that is whether they were rearing or crouching.<ref name="Notre Dame">{{cite web | title =Heraldic Dictionary: Beasts | publisher=University of Notre Dame | url =http://www.rarebooks.nd.edu/digital/heraldry/charges/lions.html | accessdate=2007-07-20 }}</ref> "Rampant" lions are common charges in heraldry. For example, the arms of the Carter of Castle Martin family, [[Ireland]] (see [[Carter-Campbell of Possil]]) include a pair of "rampant" combatant lions. The lion is used as a symbol of sporting teams, from national association football teams such as [[England national football team|England]], [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] and [[Singapore national football team|Singapore]] to famous clubs such as the [[Detroit Lions]]<ref>{{cite web | author=| title=Official Website of the Detroit Lions | publisher=Detroit Lions | year=2001 | url=http://www.detroitlions.com/index.cfm?homelink=y | accessdate=2007-07-08}}</ref> of the NFL, [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]]<ref name="new crest">{{cite news | date=2004-11-12 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/4008257.stm | title=Chelsea centenary crest unveiled | publisher=BBC | accessdate=2007-01-02 | author=}}</ref> and [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] of the [[English Premier League]],<ref>{{cite web | author=Aston Villa F.C. | title=The Aston Villa Crest: 2007 Onwards… | publisher=Aston Villa F.C. | year=2007 | url=http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/CrestTest/0,,10265,00.html | archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20071011024349/http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/CrestTest/0,,10265,00.html | archivedate=2007-10-11 | accessdate=2007-08-06}}</ref> (and the Premiership itself) to a host of smaller clubs around the world. Villa sport a Scottish [[Lion Rampant]] on their crest, as do [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] and [[Dundee United F.C.|Dundee United]] of the [[Scottish Premier League]].


===Cultural significance===
Lions continue to feature in modern literature, from the messianic [[Aslan]] in ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]'' and following books from [[The Chronicles of Narnia]] series written by [[C. S. Lewis]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Lewis |first=C.S. |authorlink=C. S. Lewis |title= The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe |year= 1950 |publisher= HarperCollins |isbn= 0-06-023481-4}}</ref> to the comedic [[Cowardly Lion]] in ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref>L. Frank Baum, Michael Patrick Hearn, ''The Annotated Wizard of Oz'', p 148, ISBN 0-517-50086-8</ref> The advent of moving pictures saw the continued presence of lion symbolism; one of the most iconic and widely recognised lions is [[Leo the Lion (MGM)|Leo the Lion]], the mascot for [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] (MGM) studios, which has been in use since the 1920s.<ref name="tvacres">{{cite web | url=http://www.tvacres.com/adanimals_leolion.htm | title=TV ACRES: Advertising Mascots - Animals - Leo the MGM Lion (MGM Studios) | work=TV Acres}}</ref> The 1960s saw the appearance of what is possibly the most famous lioness, the Kenyan animal [[Elsa the lioness|Elsa]] in the movie ''[[Born Free]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Adamson |first=George |authorlink=George Adamson |title= Bwana Game : the life story of George Adamson|year= 1969 |publisher=Fontana |location= |isbn=0006121454 }}</ref> based on the true-life international bestselling book of the same title.<ref>{{cite book |last=Adamson |first=Joy |authorlink=Joy Adamson |title=Born Free: A Lioness of Two Worlds |year=2000|origyear=1960 |publisher=Pantheon |location= |isbn=0375714383 }}</ref> The lion's role as King of the Beasts has been used in cartoons, from the 1950s manga which gave rise to the first Japanese colour TV animation series, ''[[Kimba the White Lion]]'', Leonardo Lion of ''[[King Leonardo and his Short Subjects]]'', both from the 1960s, up to the 1994 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Disney]] animated feature film ''[[The Lion King]]'',<ref>{{cite book |last=Schweizer |first=Peter |title=Disney: The Mouse Betrayed |year=1998 |pages=164–169|publisher=Regnery Publishing |location=Washington D.C. |isbn=0-89526-387-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=King Leonardo and His Short Subjects | work=Internet Movie Database | publisher=Internet Movie Database Inc. | year=2007 | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053515/maindetails | accessdate=2007-09-14}}</ref> which also featured the popular song "[[The Lion Sleeps Tonight]]" in its soundtrack. A lion appears on the [[South Africa]]n 50-Rand banknotes (see [[South African rand#Banknotes|South African rand]]).
{{main|Cultural depictions of lions}}
[[File:Luxor Sekhmet New Kingdom.JPG|thumb|right|upright|Granite statue of the Egyptian goddess [[Sekhmet]] from the [[Luxor Temple]], dated 1403–1365 BC, exhibited in the [[National Museum of Denmark]]]]
The lion is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature.<ref name=Guggisberg1975/> It is considered to be the 'King of Beasts'<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 7.</ref> and has symbolised power, royalty and protection.<ref name=Symbolism>{{cite book | first=Hope B. | last=Werness |year=2007 |title=The Continuum Encyclopedia of Animal Symbolism in World Art |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |pages=254–260|isbn=978-0826419132}}</ref> Several leaders have had "lion" in their name including [[Sundiata Keita]] of the [[Mali Empire]], who was called "Lion of Mali",<ref name=Lynch/> and [[Richard the Lionheart]] of England.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 133.</ref> The male's mane makes it a particularly recognisable feature and thus has been represented more than the female.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 100.</ref> Nevertheless, the lioness has also had importance as a guardian.<ref name=Symbolism/>


In sub-Saharan Africa, the lion has been a common character in stories, proverbs and dances, but rarely featured in visual arts.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], p. 119.</ref> In the [[Swahili language]], the lion is known as ''simba'' which also means "aggressive", "king" and "strong".<ref name=BCKM1993/> In parts of West and East Africa, the lion is associated with healing and provides the connection between [[Clairvoyance|seers]] and the supernatural. In other East African traditions, the lion represents laziness.<ref name=Hogarth>{{cite book |last1=Hogarth |first1=C. |last2=Butler |first2=N. |year=2004 |title=Shamanism: An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Culture |volume=1 |editor=Walter, M. N. |isbn=978-1-57607-645-3 |chapter=Animal Symbolism (Africa) |pages=3–6 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8waCmzjiD4C&pg=PA3 |url=https://archive.org/details/shamanism00mari/page/3}}</ref> In much of [[African folklore]], the lion is portrayed as having low intelligence and is easily tricked by other animals.<ref name=Lynch>{{cite book |last=Lynch |first=P. A. |year=2004 |title=African Mythology A to Z |publisher=Infobase Publishing |page=63 |isbn=978-0-8160-4892-2 |chapter=Lion |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/africanmythology00lync_0/page/63}}</ref> In [[Nubia]], The lion-god [[Apedemak]] was associated with the flooding of the Nile. In [[Ancient Egypt]], lions were linked both with the sun and the waters of the Nile. Several gods were conceived as being partially lion including the war deities [[Sekhmet]] and [[Maahes]], and [[Tefnut]] the goddess of moisture. [[Shu (Egyptian god)|Shu]], god of the air, was depicted kneeing between two lions while holding a headrest. The lions mark where the sun rises and sets and symbolise yesterday and tomorrow.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 107–108, 111.</ref>
[[File:Berlín Ishtar león. 02.JPG|thumb|left|Roaring and striding lion from the Throne Room of [[Nebuchadnezzar&nbsp;II]], 6th century BC, from [[Babylon]], Iraq]]
The lion was a prominent symbol in ancient [[Mesopotamia]] from [[Sumer]] up to [[Assyria]]n and [[Babylonia]]n times, where it was strongly associated with kingship.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cassin |first=Elena |author-link=Elena Cassin |year=1981 |title= Le roi et le lion |journal=Revue de l'Histoire des Religions | trans-title = The King and the Lion | volume=298 |issue=198–4 |pages=355–401 |language=fr|doi=10.3406/rhr.1981.4828}}</ref> The big cat was a symbol and steed of fertility goddess [[Inanna]].<ref name=Symbolism/> Lions decorate the [[Ishtar_Gate#Ishtar_Gate_and_Processional_Way|Processional Way leading to the Ishtar Gate]] in Babylon which was built by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] in the 6th century BCE. The [[Lion of Babylon]] symbolised the power of the king and protection of the land against enemies, but was also invoked for good luck.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Watanabe|first=C. E.|year=2015|title=The symbolic role of animals in Babylon: a contextual approach to the lion, the bull and the mušḫuššu|journal=Iraq|volume=77|pages=215–224|doi=10.1017/irq.2015.17}}</ref> The constellation [[Leo (constellation)|Leo the lion]] was first recognised by the Sumerians around 4,000 years ago and is considered to be the fifth sign of the [[zodiac]]. In ancient Israel, [[Lion of Judah|a lion]] represented the [[tribe of Judah]].<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 109, 115.</ref> Lions are frequently mentioned in the [[Bible]], notably in the [[Book of Daniel]], in which the [[Daniel (biblical figure)|eponymous hero]] refuses to worship [[Darius the Mede|King Darius]] and is forced to sleep in [[Daniel in the lions' den|the lions' den]] where he is miraculously unharmed ({{bibleref2|Dan|6}}).<ref>{{cite book |editor=Sakenfeld, K. D. |year=2008 |title=New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible |volume=3 |chapter=Lion |author=Borowski, O. |publisher=Abingdon Press|pages=669–670 |isbn=978-0687333653}}</ref>

[[File:Cowardly lion2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Dorothy Gale]] meets the Cowardly Lion in ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]''. Art by [[W. W. Denslow]], 1900.]]
Indo-Persian chroniclers regarded the lion as keeper of order in the realm of animals. The [[Sanskrit]] word ''mrigendra'' signifies a lion as king of animals in general or deer in particular.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Rangarajan, M. |year=2013 |title=Animals with rich histories: the case of the lions of Gir Forest, Gujarat, India |journal=History and Theory |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=109–127 |doi=10.1111/hith.10690|doi-access=free }}</ref> In India, the [[Lion Capital of Ashoka]], erected by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century CE, depicts four lions standing back to back. In [[Hindu mythology]], the half-lion [[Narasimha]], an avatar of the deity [[Vishnu]], battles and slays the evil ruler [[Hiranyakashipu]]. In Buddhist art, lions are associated with both ''[[arhat]]s'' and [[bodhisattva]]s and may be ridden by the [[Manjushri]]. Though they were never native to the country, lions have played important roles in [[Chinese culture]]. Statues of the beast have guarded the entrances to the imperial palace and many religious shrines. The [[lion dance]] has been performed in China and beyond for over a thousand years.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 113, 119–122, 124.</ref>

In [[ancient Greece]], the lion is featured in several of [[Aesop's fables]], notably [[The Lion and the Mouse]]. In [[Greek mythology]], the [[Nemean lion]] is slain by the hero [[Heracles]] who wears its skin. [[Lancelot]] and [[Gawain]] were also heroes slaying lions in [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]]. In some medieval stories, lions were portrayed as allies and companions. Lions continue to appear in modern literature such as the [[Cowardly Lion]] in [[L. Frank Baum]]'s 1900 ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz]]'', and in [[C. S. Lewis]]'s ''[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]''. The lion's role as ruler of animals has been used in the 1994 [[Disney animated feature]] film ''[[The Lion King]]''.<ref>[[#Jackson|Jackson]], pp. 7, 96, 99, 103–105, 128, 135, 150, 197.</ref>
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==See also==
==Notes==<!-- ContribZool76:87. -->
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{{reflist|3}}
* [[List of largest cats]]
* [[Mapogo lion coalition]]
* [[Roar (film)]] from 1981
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}


==References==
==References==
<!--ContribZool76:87.-->
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=== Citations ===
*{{cite book |last=Baratay |first=Eric |coauthors=Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier |title=Zoo : a history of zoological gardens in the West |year=2002 |publisher=Reaktion Books |location=London |isbn=1861891113}}
{{Reflist|23em}}
*{{cite book |last=Blunt |first=Wilfred |title=The Ark in the Park: The Zoo in the Nineteenth Century |year=1975 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London |isbn=0241893313}}

*{{cite book |last=de Courcy |first=Catherine |title=The Zoo Story |year=1995 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=Ringwood, Victoria |isbn=0140239197}}
=== Books ===
*{{cite book |last=Schaller |first=George B. |authorlink=George Schaller|year=1972 |title= The Serengeti lion: A study of predator-prey relations|publisher= University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago |isbn=0226736393}}
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Baratay |first1=E. |first2=E. |last2=Hardouin-Fugier |year=2002 |title=Zoo: A History of Zoological Gardens in the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V0JSVvpZvYYC&pg=PA3 |location=London |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1-86189-111-2 |ref=Baratay |access-date=1 November 2020 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505151453/https://books.google.com/books?id=V0JSVvpZvYYC&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last=Blunt |first=W. |year=1975 |title=The Ark in the Park: The Zoo in the Nineteenth Century |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_241893313 |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |isbn=978-0-241-89331-9 |ref=Blunt }}
* {{Cite book |last=de Courcy |first=C. |year=1995 |title=The Zoo Story |location=Ringwood, Victoria |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-023919-5|ref=Courcy}}
* {{cite book |last=Jackson |first=D. |year=2010 |title=Lion |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65lK7UIVRfIC |location=London |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1861896551 |ref=Jackson |access-date=18 May 2019 |archive-date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305201628/https://books.google.com/books?id=65lK7UIVRfIC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book|last=Packer|first=C.|author-link=Craig Packer|year=2023|title=The Lion: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation of an Iconic Species|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691215297|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYOREAAAQBAJ&q=The+Lion:+Behavior,+Ecology,+and+Conservation+of+an+Iconic+Species|ref=Packer|access-date=10 July 2023|archive-date=28 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828195723/https://books.google.com/books?id=TYOREAAAQBAJ&q=The+Lion:+Behavior,+Ecology,+and+Conservation+of+an+Iconic+Species|url-status=live}}
* {{Cite book |last=Schaller |first=G. B. |author-link=George Schaller |year=1972 |title=The Serengeti Lion: A Study of Predator–Prey Relations |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-73639-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7ann2dYn9iYC&pg=PP1 |ref=Schaller |access-date=1 November 2020 |archive-date=5 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240505151524/https://books.google.com/books?id=7ann2dYn9iYC&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite book |last1=Scott |first1=J. |last2=Scott |first2=A. |year=2002 |title=Big Cat Diary: Lion |location=New York |publisher=Harper Collins |isbn=9780007146666 |ref=Scott}}
{{Refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{commons|Panthera leo|Lion}}
{{Wikispecies |Panthera leo|Lion}}
{{wiktionary}}
{{wikispecies|Panthera leo|Lion}}
{{EB1911 poster|Lion}}
*{{Commons-inline|Panthera leo|Lion}}
* [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Panthera_leo.html Animal Diversity Web: ''Panthera leo'' (lion)]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=108 | title=Lion ''Panthera leo'' |author=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group}}
*[http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/lion African Wildlife Foundation: Lion]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.lionconservationfund.org/ | title=Lion Conservation Fund}}
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM Battle at Kruger]: video of a pack of lions fighting against a crocodile and buffalos over a kill
* {{cite web |url=http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/rare-desert-lion-killed-in-angola-after-supplying-unprecedented-data/32633 |title=Rare desert lion killed in Angola after supplying unprecedented data |website=The Portugal News |date=2014 |access-date=24 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802223523/http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/rare-desert-lion-killed-in-angola-after-supplying-unprecedented-data/32633 |archive-date=2 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}
*[http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/name/Felis_leo Biodiversity Heritage Library bibliography] for ''Felis leo''
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Lion|short=x}}
* [http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/name/Panthera_leo Biodiversity Heritage Library bibliography] for ''Panthera leo''

* [http://www.lionconservationfund.org/ Lion Conservation Fund] example of a fund and its projects about the research and conservation of the lion
{{Carnivora |Fe.}}
* [http://www.lionresearch.org/main.html Lion Research Center] website of the research group at the University of Minnesota that has conducted field research on lions and published peer-reviewed scientific articles
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[[an:Panthera leo]]
[[gn:Leõ]]
[[az:Şir]]
[[bn:সিংহ]]
[[zh-min-nan:Sai]]
[[ba:Арыҫлан]]
[[be:Леў]]
[[be-x-old:Леў]]
[[bo:སེང་གེ།]]
[[bs:Lav]]
[[br:Leon (loen)]]
[[bg:Лъв]]
[[ca:Lleó]]
[[cv:Арăслан]]
[[cs:Lev]]
[[sn:Shumba]]
[[co:Lionu]]
[[cy:Llew]]
[[da:Løve]]
[[de:Löwe]]
[[nv:Náshdóítsoh bitsiijįʼ daditłʼooígíí]]
[[et:Lõvi]]
[[el:Λιοντάρι]]
[[es:Panthera leo]]
[[eo:Leono]]
[[eu:Lehoi]]
[[fa:شیر (گربه‌سان)]]
[[fo:Leyva]]
[[fr:Lion]]
[[ga:Leon]]
[[gd:Leòmhann]]
[[gl:Panthera leo]]
[[gu:એશિયાઇ સિંહ]]
[[got:𐌻𐌹𐍅𐌰]]
[[hak:Sṳ̂-é]]
[[xal:Арслң]]
[[ko:사자]]
[[ha:Zaki]]
[[hy:Առյուծ]]
[[hi:सिंह (पशु)]]
[[hsb:Law]]
[[hr:Lav]]
[[io:Leono (mamifero)]]
[[ig:Odúm]]
[[bpy:নংসা]]
[[id:Singa]]
[[ia:Leon]]
[[os:Цомахъ]]
[[zu:Ibhubesi]]
[[is:Ljón]]
[[it:Panthera leo]]
[[he:אריה]]
[[jv:Singa]]
[[kn:ಸಿಂಹ]]
[[pam:Leon (animal)]]
[[ka:ლომი]]
[[sw:Simba]]
[[kg:Nkosi]]
[[ht:Lyon]]
[[ku:Şêr]]
[[la:Leo]]
[[lv:Lauva]]
[[lb:Léiw]]
[[lt:Liūtas]]
[[lij:Lion (bestia)]]
[[li:Liew]]
[[ln:Nkɔ́si]]
[[hu:Oroszlán]]
[[ml:സിംഹം]]
[[mt:Iljun]]
[[mr:सिंह]]
[[arz:سبع]]
[[ms:Singa]]
[[mdf:Орксофта]]
[[mn:Арслан]]
[[my:ခြင်္သေ့]]
[[nah:Cuāmiztli]]
[[nl:Leeuw (dier)]]
[[ne:सिंह (जनावर)]]
[[ja:ライオン]]
[[ce:Лоьм]]
[[no:Løve]]
[[nn:Løve]]
[[nrm:Lion]]
[[oc:Panthera leo]]
[[pa:ਸ਼ੇਰ]]
[[pcd:Lion]]
[[pms:Lion]]
[[pl:Lew]]
[[pt:Leão]]
[[ro:Leu]]
[[qu:Liyun]]
[[ru:Лев]]
[[sah:Хахай]]
[[stq:Leeuwe]]
[[st:Tau]]
[[sq:Luani]]
[[scn:Liuni]]
[[simple:Lion]]
[[ss:Libubesi]]
[[sk:Lev púšťový]]
[[cu:Ль́въ]]
[[sl:Lev]]
[[so:Libaax]]
[[sr:Лав]]
[[sh:Lav]]
[[su:Singa]]
[[fi:Leijona]]
[[sv:Lejon]]
[[tl:Leon]]
[[ta:சிங்கம்]]
[[kab:Izem]]
[[te:సింహం]]
[[th:สิงโต]]
[[ti:ኣንበሳ]]
[[tg:Шер]]
[[tr:Aslan]]
[[uk:Лев]]
[[ur:ببر (شیر)]]
[[ug:شىر]]
[[vec:Leon]]
[[vi:Sư tử]]
[[fiu-vro:Lõvi]]
[[vls:Lêeuw (bêeste)]]
[[war:Leon]]
[[wo:Gaynde]]
[[yi:לייב]]
[[yo:Kìnìún]]
[[zh-yue:獅子]]
[[bat-smg:Liūts]]
[[zh:狮]]

Latest revision as of 22:42, 2 January 2025

Lion
Temporal range: Pleistocene–Present
Male in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Female in Okonjima, Namibia
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[a][2]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Pantherinae
Genus: Panthera
Species:
P. leo[1]
Binomial name
Panthera leo[1]
Subspecies
P. l. leo
P. l. melanochaita
P. l. sinhaleyus
Historical lion distribution

The lion (Panthera leo) is a large cat of the genus Panthera, native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult male lions are larger than females and have a prominent mane. It is a social species, forming groups called prides. A lion's pride consists of a few adult males, related females, and cubs. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, preying mostly on medium-sized and large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator.

The lion inhabits grasslands, savannahs, and shrublands. It is usually more diurnal than other wild cats, but when persecuted, it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. During the Neolithic period, the lion ranged throughout Africa and Eurasia, from Southeast Europe to India, but it has been reduced to fragmented populations in sub-Saharan Africa and one population in western India. It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Lion populations are untenable outside designated protected areas. Although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern.

One of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture, the lion has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in literature and films. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire and have been a key species sought for exhibition in zoological gardens across the world since the late 18th century. Cultural depictions of lions were prominent in Ancient Egypt, and depictions have occurred in virtually all ancient and medieval cultures in the lion's historic and current range.

Etymology

The English word lion is derived via Anglo-Norman liun from Latin leōnem (nominative: leō), which in turn was a borrowing from Ancient Greek λέων léōn. The Hebrew word לָבִיא lavi may also be related.[4] The generic name Panthera is traceable to the classical Latin word 'panthēra' and the ancient Greek word πάνθηρ 'panther'.[5]

Taxonomy

The upper cladogram is based on the 2006 study,[6][7] the lower one on the 2010[8] and 2011[9] studies.

Felis leo was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the lion in his work Systema Naturae.[3] The genus name Panthera was coined by Lorenz Oken in 1816.[10] Between the mid-18th and mid-20th centuries, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, of which 11 were recognised as valid in 2005.[1] They were distinguished mostly by the size and colour of their manes and skins.[11]

Subspecies

Range map showing distribution of subspecies and clades

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion type specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, with about a dozen recognised as valid taxa until 2017.[1] Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors used only two subspecific names: P. l. leo for African lion populations, and P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion population.[2][12][13] In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised lion taxonomy, and recognises two subspecies based on results of several phylogeographic studies on lion evolution, namely:[14]

  • P. l. leo (Linnaeus, 1758) − the nominate lion subspecies includes the Asiatic lion, the regionally extinct Barbary lion, and lion populations in West and northern parts of Central Africa.[14] Synonyms include P. l. persica (Meyer, 1826), P. l. senegalensis (Meyer, 1826), P. l. kamptzi (Matschie, 1900), and P. l. azandica (Allen, 1924).[1] Multiple authors referred to it as 'northern lion' and 'northern subspecies'.[15][16]
  • P. l. melanochaita (Smith, 1842) − includes the extinct Cape lion and lion populations in East and Southern African regions.[14] Synonyms include P. l. somaliensis (Noack 1891), P. l. massaica (Neumann, 1900), P. l. sabakiensis (Lönnberg, 1910), P. l. bleyenberghi (Lönnberg, 1914), P. l. roosevelti (Heller, 1914), P. l. nyanzae (Heller, 1914), P. l. hollisteri (Allen, 1924), P. l. krugeri (Roberts, 1929), P. l. vernayi (Roberts, 1948), and P. l. webbiensis (Zukowsky, 1964).[1][11] It has been referred to as 'southern subspecies' and 'southern lion'.[16]

However, there seems to be some degree of overlap between both groups in northern Central Africa. DNA analysis from a more recent study indicates that Central African lions are derived from both northern and southern lions, as they cluster with P. leo leo in mtDNA-based phylogenies whereas their genomic DNA indicates a closer relationship with P. leo melanochaita.[17]

Lion samples from some parts of the Ethiopian Highlands cluster genetically with those from Cameroon and Chad, while lions from other areas of Ethiopia cluster with samples from East Africa. Researchers, therefore, assume Ethiopia is a contact zone between the two subspecies.[18] Genome-wide data of a wild-born historical lion sample from Sudan showed that it clustered with P. l. leo in mtDNA-based phylogenies, but with a high affinity to P. l. melanochaita. This result suggested that the taxonomic position of lions in Central Africa may require revision.[19]

Fossil records

Skull of an American lion on display at the National Museum of Natural History

Other lion subspecies or sister species to the modern lion existed in prehistoric times:[20]

  • P. l. sinhaleyus was a fossil carnassial excavated in Sri Lanka, which was attributed to a lion. It is thought to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago.[21]
  • P. fossilis was larger than the modern lion and lived in the Middle Pleistocene. Bone fragments were excavated in caves in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Czech Republic.[22][23]
  • P. spelaea, or the cave lion, lived in Eurasia and Beringia during the Late Pleistocene. It became extinct due to climate warming or human expansion latest by 11,900 years ago.[24] Bone fragments excavated in European, North Asian, Canadian and Alaskan caves indicate that it ranged from Europe across Siberia into western Alaska.[25] It likely derived from P. fossilis,[26] and was genetically isolated and highly distinct from the modern lion in Africa and Eurasia.[27][26] It is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts.[28]
  • P. atrox, or the American lion, ranged in the Americas from Canada to possibly Patagonia during the Late Pleistocene.[29] It diverged from the cave lion around 165,000 years ago.[30] A fossil from Edmonton dates to 11,355 ± 55 years ago.[31]

Evolution

red Panthera spelaea
blue Panthera atrox
green Panthera leo

Maximal range of the modern lion
and its prehistoric relatives
in the late Pleistocene

The Panthera lineage is estimated to have genetically diverged from the common ancestor of the Felidae around 9.32 to 4.47 million years ago to 11.75 to 0.97 million years ago.[6][32][33] Results of analyses differ in the phylogenetic relationship of the lion; it was thought to form a sister group with the jaguar that diverged 3.46 to 1.22 million years ago,[6] but also with the leopard that diverged 3.1 to 1.95 million years ago[8][9] to 4.32 to 0.02 million years ago. Hybridisation between lion and snow leopard ancestors possibly continued until about 2.1 million years ago.[33] The lion-leopard clade was distributed in the Asian and African Palearctic since at least the early Pliocene.[34] The earliest fossils recognisable as lions were found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and are estimated to be up to 2 million years old.[32]

Estimates for the divergence time of the modern and cave lion lineages range from 529,000 to 392,000 years ago based on mutation rate per generation time of the modern lion. There is no evidence for gene flow between the two lineages, indicating that they did not share the same geographic area.[19] The Eurasian and American cave lions became extinct at the end of the last glacial period without mitochondrial descendants on other continents.[27][35][36] The modern lion was probably widely distributed in Africa during the Middle Pleistocene and started to diverge in sub-Saharan Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Lion populations in East and Southern Africa became separated from populations in West and North Africa when the equatorial rainforest expanded 183,500 to 81,800 years ago.[37] They shared a common ancestor probably between 98,000 and 52,000 years ago.[19] Due to the expansion of the Sahara between 83,100 and 26,600 years ago, lion populations in West and North Africa became separated. As the rainforest decreased and thus gave rise to more open habitats, lions moved from West to Central Africa. Lions from North Africa dispersed to southern Europe and Asia between 38,800 and 8,300 years ago.[37]

Extinction of lions in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East interrupted gene flow between lion populations in Asia and Africa. Genetic evidence revealed numerous mutations in lion samples from East and Southern Africa, which indicates that this group has a longer evolutionary history than genetically less diverse lion samples from Asia and West and Central Africa.[38] A whole genome-wide sequence of lion samples showed that samples from West Africa shared alleles with samples from Southern Africa, and samples from Central Africa shared alleles with samples from Asia. This phenomenon indicates that Central Africa was a melting pot of lion populations after they had become isolated, possibly migrating through corridors in the Nile Basin during the early Holocene.[19]

Hybrids

In zoos, lions have been bred with tigers to create hybrids for the curiosity of visitors or for scientific purpose.[39][40] The liger is bigger than a lion and a tiger, whereas most tigons are relatively small compared to their parents because of reciprocal gene effects.[41][42] The leopon is a hybrid between a lion and leopard.[43]

Description

A tuft at the end of the tail is a distinct characteristic of the lion.
Skeleton

The lion is a muscular, broad-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck, and round ears; males have broader heads. The fur varies in colour from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red, and dark brown. The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. A new-born lion has dark spots, which fade as the cub reaches adulthood, although faint spots may still be seen on the legs and underparts.[44][45] The tail of all lions ends in a dark, hairy tuft that, in some lions, conceals an approximately 5 mm (0.20 in)-long, hard "spine" or "spur" composed of dermal papillae.[46] The functions of the spur are unknown. The tuft is absent at birth and develops at around 5+12 months of age. It is readily identifiable at the age of seven months.[47]

Its skull is very similar to that of the tiger, although the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened and has a slightly shorter postorbital region and broader nasal openings than those of the tiger. Due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.[48][49]

The skeletal muscles of the lion make up 58.8% of its body weight and represent the highest percentage of muscles among mammals.[50][51] The lion has a high concentration of fast twitch muscle fibres, giving them quick bursts of speed but less stamina.[52][53]

Size

Among felids, the lion is second only to the tiger in size.[45] The size and weight of adult lions vary across its range and habitats.[54][55][56][57] Accounts of a few individuals that were larger than average exist from Africa and India.[44][58][59][60]

Average Female lions Male lions
Head-and-body length 160–184 cm (63–72 in)[61] 184–208 cm (72–82 in)[61]
Tail length 72–89.5 cm (28.3–35.2 in)[61] 82.5–93.5 cm (32.5–36.8 in)[61]
Weight 118.37–143.52 kg (261.0–316.4 lb) in Southern Africa,[54]
119.5 kg (263 lb) in East Africa,[54]
110–120 kg (240–260 lb) in India[55]
186.55–225 kg (411.3–496.0 lb) in Southern Africa,[54]
174.9 kg (386 lb) in East Africa,[54]
160–190 kg (350–420 lb) in India[55]

Mane

A six-year-old male in Phinda Private Game Reserve
Young male in Pendjari National Park

The male lion's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species.[11] It may have evolved around 320,000–190,000 years ago.[62] It grows downwards and backwards, covering most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust, and black hairs.[45] Mutations in the genes microphthalmia-associated transcription factor and tyrosinase are possibly responsible for the colour of manes.[63][64] It starts growing when lions enter adolescence, when testosterone levels increase, and reach their full size at around four years old.[65] Cool ambient temperatures in European and North American zoos may result in a heavier mane.[66] On average, Asiatic lions have sparser manes than African lions.[67]

This feature likely evolved to signal the fitness of males to females. Males with darker manes appear to have greater reproductive success and are more likely to remain in a pride for longer. They have longer and thicker hair and higher testosterone levels, but they are also more vulnerable to heat stress.[68][69] The core body temperature does apparently not increase regardless of sex, season, feeding time, length and colour of mane, but only surface temperature is affected.[70] Unlike in other felid species, female lions consistently interact with multiple males at once.[71] Another hypothesis suggests that the mane also serves to protect the neck in fights, but this is disputed.[72][73] During fights, including those involving maneless females and adolescents, the neck is not targeted as much as the face, back, and hindquarters. Injured lions also begin to lose their manes.[74]

Almost all male lions in Pendjari National Park are either maneless or have very short manes.[75] Maneless lions have also been reported in Senegal, in Sudan's Dinder National Park and in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.[76] Castrated lions often have little to no mane because the removal of the gonads inhibits testosterone production.[77] Rarely, both wild and captive lionesses have manes.[78][79] Increased testosterone may be the cause of maned lionesses reported in northern Botswana.[80]

Colour variation

The white lion is a rare morph with a genetic condition called leucism, which is caused by a double recessive allele. It is not albino; it has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White lions have occasionally been encountered in and around Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion gene pool. Nevertheless, 17 births have been recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015.[81] White lions are selected for breeding in captivity.[82] They have reportedly been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies to be killed during canned hunts.[83]

Distribution and habitat

Lion in Gir National Park, India

African lions live in scattered populations across sub-Saharan Africa. The lion prefers grassy plains and savannahs, scrub bordering rivers, and open woodlands with bushes. It rarely enters closed forests. On Mount Elgon, the lion has been recorded up to an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) and close to the snow line on Mount Kenya.[44] Savannahs with an annual rainfall of 300 to 1,500 mm (12 to 59 in) make up the majority of lion habitat in Africa, estimated at 3,390,821 km2 (1,309,203 sq mi) at most, but remnant populations are also present in tropical moist forests in West Africa and montane forests in East Africa.[84] The Asiatic lion now survives only in and around Gir National Park in Gujarat, western India. Its habitat is a mixture of dry savannah forest and very dry, deciduous scrub forest.[12]

Historical range

In Africa, the range of the lion originally spanned most of the central African rainforest zone and the Sahara desert.[85] In the 1960s, it became extinct in North Africa, except in the southern part of Sudan.[86][84][87]

During the mid-Holocene, around 8,000-6,000 years ago, the range of lions expanded into Southeastern and Eastern Europe, partially re-occupying the range of the now extinct cave lion.[88] In Hungary, the modern lion was present from about 4,500 to 3,200 years Before Present.[89] In Ukraine, the modern lion was present from about 6,400 to 2,000 years Before Present.[88] In Greece, it was common, as reported by Herodotus in 480 BC; it was considered rare by 300 BC and extirpated by AD 100.[44]

In Asia the lion once ranged in regions where climatic conditions supported an abundance of prey.[90] It was present in the Caucasus until the 10th century.[49] It lived in Palestine until the Middle Ages and in Southwest Asia until the late 19th century. By the late 19th century, it had been extirpated in most of Turkey.[91] The last live lion in Iran was sighted in 1942, about 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Dezful,[92] although the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of the Karun river in Khuzestan province in 1944.[93] It once ranged from Sind and Punjab in Pakistan to Bengal and the Narmada River in central India.[94]

Behaviour and ecology

Lions spend much of their time resting; they are inactive for about twenty hours per day.[95] Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socialising, grooming, and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity continue until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and fifty minutes eating.[96]

Group organisation

Lion pride in Etosha National Park
A lioness (left) and two males in Masai Mara

The lion is the most social of all wild felid species, living in groups of related individuals with their offspring. Such a group is called a "pride". Groups of male lions are called "coalitions".[97] Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females.[98] The majority of females remain in their birth prides while all males and some females will disperse.[99] The average pride consists of around 15 lions, including several adult females and up to four males and their cubs of both sexes. Large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed.[100] The sole exception to this pattern is the Tsavo lion pride that always has just one adult male.[101] Prides act as fission–fusion societies, and members will split into subgroups that keep in contact with roars.[102]

Nomadic lions range widely and move around sporadically, either in pairs or alone.[97] Pairs are more frequent among related males. A lion may switch lifestyles; nomads can become residents and vice versa.[103] Interactions between prides and nomads tend to be hostile, although pride females in estrus allow nomadic males to approach them.[104] Males spend years in a nomadic phase before gaining residence in a pride.[105] A study undertaken in the Serengeti National Park revealed that nomadic coalitions gain residency at between 3.5 and 7.3 years of age.[106] In Kruger National Park, dispersing male lions move more than 25 km (16 mi) away from their natal pride in search of their own territory. Female lions stay closer to their natal pride. Therefore, female lions in an area are more closely related to each other than male lions in the same area.[107]

The evolution of sociability in lions was likely driven both by high population density and the clumped resources of savannah habitats. The larger the pride, the more high-quality territory they can defend; "hotspots" being near river confluences, where the cats have better access to water, prey and shelter (via vegetation).[108][109] The area occupied by a pride is called a "pride area" whereas that occupied by a nomad is a "range".[97] Males associated with a pride patrol the fringes.[45] Both males and females defend the pride against intruders, but the male lion is better-suited for this purpose due to its stockier, more powerful build. Some individuals consistently lead the defence against intruders, while others lag behind.[110] Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride; slower-moving individuals may provide other valuable services to the group.[111] Alternatively, there may be rewards associated with being a leader that fends off intruders; the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses.[112] The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship with the pride from outside males who may attempt to usurp them.[103] Dominance hierarchies do not appear to exist among individuals of either sex in a pride.[113]

Asiatic lion prides differ in group composition. Male Asiatic lions are solitary or associate with up to three males, forming a loose pride while females associate with up to 12 other females, forming a stronger pride together with their cubs. Female and male lions associate only when mating.[114] Coalitions of males hold territory for a longer time than single lions. Males in coalitions of three or four individuals exhibit a pronounced hierarchy, in which one male dominates the others and mates more frequently.[115]

Hunting and diet

A skeletal mount of a lion attacking a common eland, on display at The Museum of Osteology
Four lionesses catching a buffalo in the Serengeti
Lions feeding on a zebra

The lion is a generalist hypercarnivore and is considered to be both an apex and keystone predator due to its wide prey spectrum.[116][117] Its prey consists mainly of medium-sized to large ungulates, particularly blue wildebeest, plains zebra, African buffalo, gemsbok and giraffe. It also frequently takes common warthog despite it being much smaller.[118] In India, chital and sambar deer are the most common wild prey,[45][118][119] while livestock contributes significantly to lion kills outside protected areas.[120] It usually avoids fully grown adult elephants, rhinoceros and hippopotamus and small prey like dik-dik, hyraxes, hares and monkeys. Unusual prey include porcupines and small reptiles. Lions kill other predators but seldom consume them.[121]

Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two.[122] Single lions are capable of bringing down zebra and wildebeest, while larger prey like buffalo and giraffe are riskier.[103] In Chobe National Park, large prides have been observed hunting African bush elephants up to around 15 years old in exceptional cases, with the victims being calves, juveniles, and even subadults.[123][124] In typical group hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing", then attacking, or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting.[125] Some evidence suggests, however, that males are just as successful as females; they are typically solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.[126] They may join in the hunting of large, slower-moving prey like buffalo; and even hunt them on their own. Moderately-sized hunting groups generally have higher success rates than lone females and larger groups.[127]

Lions are not particularly known for their stamina. For instance, a lioness's heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight.[128] Thus, lions run quickly only in short bursts at about 48–59 km/h (30–37 mph) and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack.[129] They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night.[130] One study in 2018 recorded a lion running at a top speed of 74.1 km/h (46.0 mph).[131] The lion accelerates at the start of the chase by 9.5 m/s², whereas zebras, wildebeest and Thomson's gazelle accelerate by 5 m/s², 5.6 m/s² and 4.5 m/s², respectively; acceleration appears to be more important than steady displacement speed in lion hunts.[132] The lion's attack is short and powerful; it attempts to catch prey with a fast rush and final leap, usually pulls it down by the rump, and kills with a clamping bite to the throat or muzzle. It can hold the prey's throat for up to 13 minutes, until the prey stops moving.[133] It has a bite force from 1593.8 to 1768 Newtons at the canine tip and up 4167.6 Newtons at the carnassial notch.[134][135][136]

Male lion and cub with mostly eaten buffalo carcass in Sabi Sand Game Reserve

Lions typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover.[137] They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled lions, which can live on leftovers.[103] Large kills are shared more widely among pride members.[138] An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day while males require about 7 kg (15 lb).[139] Lions gorge themselves and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one session.[93] If it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard.[137] Lions defend their kills from scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.[103]

Lions scavenge on carrion when the opportunity arises, scavenging animals dead from natural causes such as disease or those that were killed by other predators. Scavenging lions keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, which indicate the death or distress of an animal.[140] Most carrion on which both hyenas and lions feed upon are killed by hyenas rather than lions.[57] Carrion is thought to provide a large part of lion diet.[141]

Predatory competition

Lioness chasing a spotted hyena in Kruger National Park
Lioness stealing a kill from a leopard in Kruger National Park

Lions and spotted hyenas occupy a similar ecological niche and compete for prey and carrion; a review of data across several studies indicates a dietary overlap of 58.6%.[142] Lions typically ignore hyenas unless they are on a kill or are being harassed, while the latter tend to visibly react to the presence of lions with or without the presence of food. In the Ngorongoro crater, lions subsist largely on kills stolen from hyenas, causing them to increase their kill rate.[143] In Botswana's Chobe National Park, the situation is reversed as hyenas there frequently challenge lions and steal their kills, obtaining food from 63% of all lion kills.[144] When confronted on a kill, hyenas may either leave or wait patiently at a distance of 30–100 m (98–328 ft) until the lions have finished.[145] Hyenas may feed alongside lions and force them off a kill. The two species attack one another even when there is no food involved for no apparent reason.[146] Lions can account for up to 71% of hyena deaths in Etosha National Park. Hyenas have adapted by frequently mobbing lions that enter their home ranges.[147] When the lion population in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve declined, the spotted hyena population increased rapidly.[148]

Lions tend to dominate cheetahs and leopards, steal their kills and kill their cubs and even adults when given the chance.[149] Cheetahs often lose their kills to lions or other predators.[150] A study in the Serengeti ecosystem revealed that lions killed at least 17 of 125 cheetah cubs born between 1987 and 1990.[151] Cheetahs avoid their competitors by hunting at different times and habitats.[152] Leopards, by contrast, do not appear to be motivated by an avoidance of lions, as they use heavy vegetation regardless of whether lions are present in an area and both cats are active around the same time of day. In addition, there is no evidence that lions affect leopard abundance.[153] Leopards take refuge in trees, though lionesses occasionally attempt to climb up and retrieve their kills.[154]

Lions similarly dominate African wild dogs, taking their kills and dispatching pups or adult dogs. Population densities of wild dogs are low in areas where lions are more abundant.[155] However, there are a few reported cases of old and wounded lions falling prey to wild dogs.[156][157]

Reproduction and life cycle

Lions mating at Masai Mara
A lion cub in Masai Mara

Most lionesses reproduce by the time they are four years of age.[158] Lions do not mate at a specific time of year and the females are polyestrous.[159] Like those of other cats, the male lion's penis has spines that point backward. During withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation.[160][161] A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat.[162] Lions of both sexes may be involved in group homosexual and courtship activities. Males will also head-rub and roll around with each other before mounting each other.[163][164] Generation length of the lion is about seven years.[165] The average gestation period is around 110 days;[159] the female gives birth to a litter of between one and four cubs in a secluded den, which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave, or some other sheltered area, usually away from the pride. She will often hunt alone while the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the den.[166] Lion cubs are born blind, their eyes opening around seven days after birth. They weigh 1.2–2.1 kg (2.6–4.6 lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age.[167] To avoid a buildup of scent attracting the attention of predators, the lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one-by-one by the nape of the neck.[166]

Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old.[166] Sometimes the introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time.[103][168] When first introduced to the rest of the pride, lion cubs lack confidence when confronted with adults other than their mother. They soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, however, playing among themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults.[168] Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. Male tolerance of the cubs varies—one male could patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, while another may snarl and bat the cubs away.[169]

Video of a lioness and her cubs in Phinda Reserve

Pride lionesses often synchronise their reproductive cycles and communal rearing and suckling of the young, which suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. The synchronisation of births is advantageous because the cubs grow to being roughly the same size and have an equal chance of survival, and sucklings are not dominated by older cubs.[103][168] Weaning occurs after six or seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about three years of age and at four to five years are capable of challenging and displacing adult males associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken at between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest.[170]

When one or more new males oust the previous males associated with a pride, the victors often kill any existing young cubs, perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. Females often fiercely defend their cubs from a usurping male but are rarely successful unless a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against the male.[171] Cubs also die from starvation and abandonment, and predation by leopards, hyenas and wild dogs. Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity at around two or three years of age,[172] while some females may leave when they reach the age of two.[99] When a new male lion takes over a pride, adolescents both male and female may be evicted.[173]

Health and mortality

Lions in a tree near Lake Nakuru

Lions may live 12–17 years in the wild.[45] Although adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests most die violently from attacks by humans or other lions.[174] Lions often inflict serious injuries on members of other prides they encounter in territorial disputes or members of the home pride when fighting at a kill.[175] Crippled lions and cubs may fall victim to hyenas and leopards or be trampled by buffalo or elephants. Careless lions may be maimed when hunting prey.[176] Nile crocodiles may also kill and eat lions, evidenced by the occasional lion claw found in crocodile stomachs.[177]

Ticks commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of the lions.[178][179] Adult forms of several tapeworm species of the genus Taenia have been isolated from lion intestines, having been ingested as larvae in antelope meat.[180] Lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) in 1962, resulting in lions becoming emaciated and covered in bloody, bare patches. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many died or migrated and the local population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals.[181] A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions.[182]

Captive lions have been infected with canine distemper virus (CDV) since at least the mid-1970s.[183] CDV is spread by domestic dogs and other carnivores; a 1994 outbreak in Serengeti National Park resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from pneumonia and encephalitis.[184] Feline immunodeficiency virus and lentivirus also affect captive lions.[185][186]

Communication

Head rubbing among pride members is a common social behaviour.
A male lion raises his tail while marking his territory.

When resting, lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking,[187] which have been compared with the role of allogrooming among primates.[188] Head rubbing, nuzzling the forehead, face and neck against another lion appears to be a form of greeting[189] and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females.[190] Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because lions cannot lick these areas themselves.[191]

Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.[192] A common facial expression is the "grimace face" or flehmen response, which a lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose, closed eyes and relaxed ears.[193] Lions also use chemical and visual marking;[192] males spray urine[194][195] and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.[192]

The lion's repertoire of vocalisations is large; variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of growling, snarling, meowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include puffing, bleating and humming. Roaring is used to advertise its presence. Lions most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5 mi).[196] They tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into grunts.[197][198]

Conservation

The lion is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The Indian population is listed on CITES Appendix I and the African population on CITES Appendix II.[2]

In Africa

Video of a wild lioness

Several large and well-managed protected areas in Africa host large lion populations. Where an infrastructure for wildlife tourism has been developed, cash revenue for park management and local communities is a strong incentive for lion conservation.[2] Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa; their numbers are rapidly decreasing, and fell by an estimated 30–50% in the late half of the 20th century. Primary causes of the decline include disease and human interference.[2] In 1975, it was estimated that since the 1950s, lion numbers had decreased by half to 200,000 or fewer.[199] Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004.[200][86]

In the Republic of the Congo, Odzala-Kokoua National Park was considered a lion stronghold in the 1990s. By 2014, no lions were recorded in the protected area so the population is considered locally extinct.[201] The West African lion population is isolated from the one in Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that this population consists of about 400 animals, including fewer than 250 mature individuals. They persist in three protected areas in the region, mostly in one population in the W A P protected area complex, shared by Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. This population is listed as Critically Endangered.[13] Field surveys in the WAP ecosystem revealed that lion occupancy is lowest in the W National Park, and higher in areas with permanent staff and thus better protection.[202]

A population occurs in Cameroon's Waza National Park, where between approximately 14 and 21 animals persisted as of 2009.[203] In addition, 50 to 150 lions are estimated to be present in Burkina Faso's Arly-Singou ecosystem.[204] In 2015, an adult male lion and a female lion were sighted in Ghana's Mole National Park. These were the first sightings of lions in the country in 39 years.[205] In the same year, a population of up to 200 lions that was previously thought to have been extirpated was filmed in the Alatash National Park, Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border.[206][207]

In 2005, Lion Conservation Strategies were developed for West and Central Africa, and or East and Southern Africa. The strategies seek to maintain suitable habitat, ensure a sufficient wild prey base for lions, reduce factors that lead to further fragmentation of populations, and make lion–human coexistence sustainable.[208][209] Lion depredation on livestock is significantly reduced in areas where herders keep livestock in improved enclosures. Such measures contribute to mitigating human–lion conflict.[210]

In Asia

A lioness in Gir National Park

The last refuge of the Asiatic lion population is the 1,412 km2 (545 sq mi) Gir National Park and surrounding areas in the region of Saurashtra or Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat State, India. The population has risen from approximately 180 lions in 1974 to about 400 in 2010.[211] It is geographically isolated, which can lead to inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity. Since 2008, the Asiatic lion has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.[12] By 2015, the population had grown to 523 individuals inhabiting an area of 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) in Saurashtra.[212][213][214] In 2017, about 650 individuals were recorded during the Asiatic Lion Census.[215]

The presence of numerous human settlements close to Gir National Park resulted in conflict between lions, local people and their livestock.[216][212] Some consider the presence of lions a benefit, as they keep populations of crop damaging herbivores in check.[217]

Captive breeding

Two captive male Asiatic lions in Sanjay Gandhi National Park, India

Lions imported to Europe before the middle of the 19th century were possibly foremost Barbary lions from North Africa, or Cape lions from Southern Africa.[218] Another 11 animals thought to be Barbary lions kept in Addis Ababa Zoo are descendants of animals owned by Emperor Haile Selassie. WildLink International in collaboration with Oxford University launched an ambitious International Barbary Lion Project with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.[219] However, a genetic analysis showed that the captive lions at Addis Ababa Zoo were not Barbary lions, but rather closely related to wild lions in Chad and Cameroon.[220]

In 1982, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums started a Species Survival Plan for the Asiatic lion to increase its chances of survival. In 1987, it was found that most lions in North American zoos were hybrids between African and Asiatic lions.[221] Breeding programs need to note origins of the participating animals to avoid cross-breeding different subspecies and thus reducing their conservation value.[222] Captive breeding of lions was halted to eliminate individuals of unknown origin and pedigree. Wild-born lions were imported to American zoos from Africa between 1989 and 1995. Breeding was continued in 1998 in the frame of an African lion Species Survival Plan.[223]

About 77% of the captive lions registered in the International Species Information System in 2006 were of unknown origin; these animals might have carried genes that are extinct in the wild and may therefore be important to the maintenance of the overall genetic variability of the lion.[66]

Interactions with humans

In zoos and circuses

19th-century etching of a lion tamer in a cage with lions and tigers

Lions are part of a group of exotic animals that have been central to zoo exhibits since the late 18th century. Although many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits,[224] there are more than 1,000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes.[225] Lions can live over twenty years in captivity; for example, three sibling lions at the Honolulu Zoo lived to the age of 22 in 2007.[226][227]

The first European "zoos" spread among noble and royal families in the 13th century, and until the 17th century were called seraglios. At that time, they came to be called menageries, an extension of the cabinet of curiosities. They spread from France and Italy during the Renaissance to the rest of Europe.[228] In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, lions were kept at the Tower of London in a seraglio established by King John in the 13th century;[229][230] this was probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by Henry I at his hunting lodge in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, where according to William of Malmesbury lions had been stocked.[231]

Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s.[232] Further changes took place in the early 20th century when Carl Hagenbeck designed enclosures with concrete "rocks", more open space and a moat instead of bars, more closely resembling a natural habitat. Hagenbeck designed lion enclosures for both Melbourne Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo; although his designs were popular, the use of bars and caged enclosures prevailed in many zoos until the 1960s.[233] In the late 20th century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of wire mesh or laminated glass instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals; some attractions such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of Oklahoma City Zoological Park placed the den on ground level, higher than visitors.[234]

Lion taming has been part of both established circuses and individual acts such as Siegfried & Roy. The practice began in the early 19th century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American Isaac Van Amburgh, who both toured widely and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers.[235] Van Amburgh performed before Queen Victoria in 1838 when he toured Great Britain. Martin composed a pantomime titled Les Lions de Mysore ("the lions of Mysore"), an idea Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed equestrianism acts as the central display of circus shows and entered public consciousness in the early 20th century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of human over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries.[235] The ultimate proof of a tamer's dominance and control over a lion is demonstrated by the placing of the tamer's head in the lion's mouth. The now-iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American Clyde Beatty (1903–1965).[236]

Hunting and games

Bas-relief of a wounded lioness from Nineveh, c. 645–635 BC

Lion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal tradition, intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature. Such hunts took place in a reserved area in front of an audience. The monarch was accompanied by his men and controls were put in place to increase their safety and ease of killing. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an ancient Egyptian inscription dated circa 1380 BC that mentions Pharaoh Amenhotep III killing 102 lions in ten years "with his own arrows". The Assyrian emperor Ashurbanipal had one of his lion hunts depicted on a sequence of Assyrian palace reliefs c. 640 BC, known as the Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal. Lions were also hunted during the Mughal Empire, where Emperor Jahangir is said to have excelled at it.[237] In Ancient Rome, lions were kept by emperors for hunts, gladiator fights and executions.[238]

The Maasai people have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts.[239] During the European colonisation of Africa in the 19th century, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered pests and lion skins were sold for £1 each.[240] The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.[241] Trophy hunting of lions in recent years has been met with controversy, notably with the killing of Cecil the lion in mid-2015.[242]

Man-eating

The Tsavo maneaters of East Africa on display in the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago

Lions do not usually hunt humans but some (usually males) seem to seek them out. One well-publicised case is the Tsavo maneaters; in 1898, 28 officially recorded railway workers building the Uganda Railway were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge in Kenya.[243] The hunter who killed the lions wrote a book detailing the animals' predatory behaviour; they were larger than normal and lacked manes, and one seemed to suffer from tooth decay. The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favoured by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans.[244] Sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating but the behaviour is not unusual, nor necessarily aberrant.[245]

Lions' proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behaviour in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period. The incidents occurred near Selous Game Reserve in Rufiji River and in Lindi Region near the Mozambican border. While the expansion of villages into bush country is one concern, the authors argue conservation policy must mitigate the danger because in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi in which lions seize humans from the centres of substantial villages have been documented.[246] Another study of 1,000 people attacked by lions in southern Tanzania between 1988 and 2009 found that the weeks following the full moon, when there was less moonlight, were a strong indicator of increased night-time attacks on people.[247]

According to Robert R. Frump, Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park, South Africa, at night are attacked and eaten by lions; park officials have said man-eating is a problem there. Frump said thousands may have been killed in the decades after apartheid sealed the park and forced refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly crossed the park in daytime with little harm.[248]

Cultural significance

Granite statue of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet from the Luxor Temple, dated 1403–1365 BC, exhibited in the National Museum of Denmark

The lion is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature.[44] It is considered to be the 'King of Beasts'[249] and has symbolised power, royalty and protection.[250] Several leaders have had "lion" in their name including Sundiata Keita of the Mali Empire, who was called "Lion of Mali",[251] and Richard the Lionheart of England.[252] The male's mane makes it a particularly recognisable feature and thus has been represented more than the female.[253] Nevertheless, the lioness has also had importance as a guardian.[250]

In sub-Saharan Africa, the lion has been a common character in stories, proverbs and dances, but rarely featured in visual arts.[254] In the Swahili language, the lion is known as simba which also means "aggressive", "king" and "strong".[56] In parts of West and East Africa, the lion is associated with healing and provides the connection between seers and the supernatural. In other East African traditions, the lion represents laziness.[255] In much of African folklore, the lion is portrayed as having low intelligence and is easily tricked by other animals.[251] In Nubia, The lion-god Apedemak was associated with the flooding of the Nile. In Ancient Egypt, lions were linked both with the sun and the waters of the Nile. Several gods were conceived as being partially lion including the war deities Sekhmet and Maahes, and Tefnut the goddess of moisture. Shu, god of the air, was depicted kneeing between two lions while holding a headrest. The lions mark where the sun rises and sets and symbolise yesterday and tomorrow.[256]

Roaring and striding lion from the Throne Room of Nebuchadnezzar II, 6th century BC, from Babylon, Iraq

The lion was a prominent symbol in ancient Mesopotamia from Sumer up to Assyrian and Babylonian times, where it was strongly associated with kingship.[257] The big cat was a symbol and steed of fertility goddess Inanna.[250] Lions decorate the Processional Way leading to the Ishtar Gate in Babylon which was built by Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE. The Lion of Babylon symbolised the power of the king and protection of the land against enemies, but was also invoked for good luck.[258] The constellation Leo the lion was first recognised by the Sumerians around 4,000 years ago and is considered to be the fifth sign of the zodiac. In ancient Israel, a lion represented the tribe of Judah.[259] Lions are frequently mentioned in the Bible, notably in the Book of Daniel, in which the eponymous hero refuses to worship King Darius and is forced to sleep in the lions' den where he is miraculously unharmed (Dan 6).[260]

Dorothy Gale meets the Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Art by W. W. Denslow, 1900.

Indo-Persian chroniclers regarded the lion as keeper of order in the realm of animals. The Sanskrit word mrigendra signifies a lion as king of animals in general or deer in particular.[261] In India, the Lion Capital of Ashoka, erected by Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century CE, depicts four lions standing back to back. In Hindu mythology, the half-lion Narasimha, an avatar of the deity Vishnu, battles and slays the evil ruler Hiranyakashipu. In Buddhist art, lions are associated with both arhats and bodhisattvas and may be ridden by the Manjushri. Though they were never native to the country, lions have played important roles in Chinese culture. Statues of the beast have guarded the entrances to the imperial palace and many religious shrines. The lion dance has been performed in China and beyond for over a thousand years.[262]

In ancient Greece, the lion is featured in several of Aesop's fables, notably The Lion and the Mouse. In Greek mythology, the Nemean lion is slain by the hero Heracles who wears its skin. Lancelot and Gawain were also heroes slaying lions in medieval Europe. In some medieval stories, lions were portrayed as allies and companions. Lions continue to appear in modern literature such as the Cowardly Lion in L. Frank Baum's 1900 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and in C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The lion's role as ruler of animals has been used in the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King.[263]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Populations of India are listed in Appendix I.

References

Citations

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  260. ^ Borowski, O. (2008). "Lion". In Sakenfeld, K. D. (ed.). New Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible. Vol. 3. Abingdon Press. pp. 669–670. ISBN 978-0687333653.
  261. ^ Rangarajan, M. (2013). "Animals with rich histories: the case of the lions of Gir Forest, Gujarat, India". History and Theory. 52 (4): 109–127. doi:10.1111/hith.10690.
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  263. ^ Jackson, pp. 7, 96, 99, 103–105, 128, 135, 150, 197.

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