Zoo BI Cart Feline African Lion Flashcards
Q: African Lion range
Found in most countries south of the Sahara Desert, majority in East and southern Africa
Q: African Lion habitat
Grassy plains, savannahs, open woodland and scrub country
Q: African Lion niche
Nocturnal/crepuscular, terrestrial, carnivorous
Q: African Lion wild diet
Large ungulates including wildebeests, zebra, gazelles, warthogs and rodents
Obligate carnivore.
Lions have simple stomachs with an undeveloped cecum as meat is easy to digest.
Q: African Lion zoo diet
Fortified horsemeat
Q: African Lion lifespan
(Wild) 14 (average)
(Captivity) 25 - 30 yrs
Q: African Lion sexual dimorphism
Mane: Males have a mane, which acts as protection during a fight against other males and makes them appear larger. Interestingly, female lions have been observed to grow smaller manes on rare occasions.
Weight: Male has mane and is 20 to 35 % larger than female. Males weigh between 330 and 550 pounds, while females weigh from 265 to 395 pounds. The larger size allows males to protect the pride. The smaller size of the females makes them more agile and better hunters than the males.
Lions are the only felines to exhibit sexual dimorphism. (If you don’t count size differences?)
Q: African Lion location in SF Zoo
Lion house
Q: African lion top speed
Capable of sustaining 35 mph for short time spans.
Q: African lion length
5 – 8 ft
Q: African lion tail length
2.5-3.5 ft
Q: African lion shoulder height
3 ft
Q: African lion weight
Male is 300 - 500 lbs
Q: African lion coloration and pelt
Uniformly tawny with a white abdomen.
Adult males have a mane that varies from light tawny to dark brown or black.
A mane provides protection during fights and is an indicator of an individual’s fitness.
A lion’s overall coloration provides excellent camouflage on the savannahs and scrub country.
Q African lion body physical characteristics, qualitative (quantitative info, coloration, pelt, and head are separate cards)
Large predators. Largest African carnivore.
Strong powerful limbs.
Large paws with soft pads to distribute weight and to keep their stalking movements quiet.
Sharp claws for taking down prey, which are retractable to keep them sharp until needed.
Q: African lion head physical characteristics
Powerful jaws, large canines for killing prey, and well-developed carnassial teeth for shearing meat from bones.
Tongue is covered with rough papillae (bumps) used to scrape meat from bones.
Mainly nocturnal, and have large eyes with a developed tapetum lucidum, which enhances low light conditions.
Have a partially ossified hyoid bone, which creates anatomical structure for roaring.
Q: African Lion conservation status
-The IUCN lists African lions as Vulnerable, and they are regionally listed as Endangered in west and central Africa.
-Trade in African lions is regulated by CITES under Appendix II regulations; lions are legally hunted in some range countries in East and southern Africa.
-Lions are becoming very scarce outside parks and reserves and many scientists feel that, in the future, lions will only be found in protected areas, a scenario which could have genetic implications for future generations.
-CITES Appendix II: Species not necessarily threatened with extinction, but in which trade must be controlled in order to avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.
Q: African lion conservation programs
Part of the Felid TAG management and the Species Survival Plan (SSP).
Q: Describe one way in which humans threaten the survival of African Lions
Human-wildlife conflict:
Lion depredation on livestock can be a serious problem and leads to persecution by farmers.
Lions’ scavenging behavior makes them particularly vulnerable to poisoned carcasses put out to eliminate predators.
Q: Lion activity schedule
Lions are nocturnal and mostly hunt at night.
Lions are only active 3-4 hours of any given day, the rest of the time is spent resting and sleeping.
Q: When do lions roar? How far away can you hear it?
Lions have a roar that can be heard at a distance of 5 miles and is usually heard at sundown, after a kill, and after eating.
Q: Can lions purr?
The ‘purring’ type of noise produced by big cats can only be made as they exhale due to their flexible hyoid bone.
Q: Describe the makeup of a pride of lions
Lions are the only large cat that lives in a group, called prides.
Prides consist of females and young accompanied by one or more (usually two) adult males. [A pride is a group of lions with typically five to six females and their cubs as well as one or two males.]
The average size of a pride is 15.
Young males are driven from the pride after 2-4 years, or sooner if the pride is taken over by a new male.
Many females will remain with their natal pride for life.
Q: Describe the roles within a pride of lions
The primary role of the male is breeding and protection of the pride’s territory by marking boundaries with urine and other scent markings.
Females being slightly smaller and more agile tend to do most of the hunting.
Q: Describe lion predation
-Males eat first, then females and lastly the cubs.
-Lions often work cooperatively as a team, to stalk prey, getting as close as they can before launching an attack.
-They are successful in only one of every four hunts.
-Lions also scavenge and even chase other predators off their kills.
-Lions are capable of obtaining their water from prey and they also get water from Tsamma melons (!!).
-Can survive in very arid environments.
-They will drink regularly when water is available.
Q: Lion cub rearing
Females have 3-4 cubs.
The mother and cubs will stay secluded from the rest of the pride for six to eight weeks.
She will move her cubs to a new den several times a month to avoid the attention of predators.
Pride lionesses often synchronize their reproductive cycles in order to cooperate in the raising and suckling of the young.
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.
Males often kill any existing young cubs in a pride (infanticide), when talking over the pride.
Females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die.
As many as 80% of the cubs will die before the age of two.
Q: African Lion estrous
Polyestrous (can go into heat multiple times per year)
Q: African Lion sexual maturity
F ~4
M ~5 yrs
Q: African Lion gestation
100 - 119 days
Q: African Lion weaning age
6-7 months
Q: African Lion # of mammae
2 pair
Q: African Lion weight at birth
2.4 – 4.6 lbs
Q: African Lion # of young
3-4
Q: Difference between Asian Lions and African Lions
Similar in appearance.
Minor differences include a fold of skin along abdomen of Asian lion not present in African lions, and male Asian lions have a slightly sparser mane.
