Lion pictures and facts

The lion (Panthera leo) is one of the four 'big cats' in the genus Panthera. The tiger is the largest of the big cats and the second place is for the lion. They can become 10 to 14 years in the wild and the male can weigh as much as 225 kilograms. Their main threats are inbreeding, because remaining populations became isolated. Lions usually hunt at night and dawn, hunting on antelopes, gazelles, warthogs, wildebeest, buffalos and zebras, but also carrion from hyenas or African wild dogs. Lions can run as fast as 60 kilometers per hour, but cannot maintain that speed fo a very long time. Lions can either be 'nomads', or 'residents'. When lions are in groups (prides) of related females, their young and 1 to 4 males (a 'coalition'), they are said to be 'residents'. When one or two lions migrate over great distances, they are said to be 'nomads'. Lions spend about 20 hours per day resting. Did you know a lion can be crossbred to produce a liger or tigon (ligers (male lion and a tigress) and tigons (male tiger and a lioness) are crossbreeds of a lion and a tiger), leopons (crossbreed a lion and a leopard), and a jaglion (jaglions are crosbreeds between a jaguar and a lion).