Southern African lion
The Southern lion is a lion subspecies from Southern and East Africa. In this region, lion populations were referred to by several regional names, including Katanga lion, Transvaal lion, Kalahari lion, Southeast African lion, Southwest African lion, Masai lion, Serengeti lion, Tsavo lion, and Uganda lion. It has also been referred to as 'Eastern-Southern African lion', 'Southern lion', and as 'southern subspecies'.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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ScavengerScavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While sc...
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HypercarnivoreA hypercarnivore is an animal that has a diet that is more than 70% meat, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods such as fungi, fruits, or...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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Apex predatorAn apex predator, also known as a top predator, is a predator at the top of a food chain and has no natural predators. These animals usually occup...
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TerritorialA territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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CursorialA cursorial organism is one that is adapted specifically to run. An animal can be considered cursorial if it has the ability to run fast (e.g. chee...
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Ambush predatorAmbush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey by stealth, luring, or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an elemen...
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Pack huntersA pack hunter or social predator is a predatory animal that hunts its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally animals ...
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PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe fur of Southern lions varies in color from light buff to dark brown. They have rounded ears and a black tail tuft. Mane color varies from sandy, tawny, isabelline, and light reddish yellow to dark brown and black. Mane length varies from short to extending to knee joints and under the belly. Lions without a mane were observed in the Tsavo area. Mane development is related to age: older males have more extensive manes than younger ones; manes continue to grow up to the age of four to five years, long after lions become reproductively mature. Males living in the Kenyan highlands develop heavier manes than lions in the more humid and warmer lowlands of eastern and northern Kenya. White lions have occasionally been encountered in and around South Africa's Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve. Their whitish fur is a rare morph caused by a double recessive allele. It has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion gene pool.
Southern lions are found in East and Southern Africa. They are grouped into three clades. Lions, which can be grouped into the North East African clade are found in Somalia, Northern Kenya, and Ethiopia. Lions, which can be grouped into the South East African clade are found in Southern Kenya, Western DRC, Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, southern Namibia, and South Africa, with a larger hybridization zone to the southwestern lion clade in the Kruger National Park area (Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park). Lions, which can be grouped into the South West African clade are found in Angola, Northern Namibia, Northern Botswana, and western Zimbabwe, extending southeast into the Tuli block. There is a larger hybridization zone in the southeastern clade around the Kruger National Park. Southern lions prefer to live in a semi-arid savanna, grasslands, and shrublands near water courses, where also prey species gathered. They usually avoid acacia woodlands and areas with high human density.
Little is known about the behavior of Southern lions. In general, lions can be active at any time of the day but their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socializing and grooming. Most hunting often takes place at dusk. Apart from that African lions spend much of their time resting. They rest in order to save energy, in the absence of prey, or to escape the midday heat. African lions are highly social animals, gathering in groups or prides, which include up to 3 male lions and multiple lionesses with their young. Prides are defended by males, who patrol and mark the territory. However, there's harsh competition between males for the territory and position in the pride. In a case, if another male overcomes the leading male of the pride, he usually kills all cubs, sired by the previous male. Meanwhile, males do not tend to hunt due to their slow speed and eye-catching appearance. Instead, hunting is left to females of the pride, who hunt in groups, cooperating with each other during their hunting trips. The females are excellent hunters: they are faster and more agile than males, able to hunt down animals that are much bigger and faster than them. Lions have a large repertoire of vocalizations. Most of them are variations of growling, snarling, meowing, and roaring. Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating, and humming. Roaring is used for advertising their presence. Lions most often roar at night, a sound that can be heard from a distance of 8 km (5 mi).
Southern lions are hypercarnivores and prey foremost on ungulates such as gemsbok, Cape buffalo, Blue wildebeest, giraffe, Common eland, Greater kudu, nyala, Roan antelope, Sable antelope, Plains zebra, bushpig, Common warthog, hartebeest, Common tsessebe, waterbuck, kob and Thomson's gazelle. Their prey is usually in the range of 190-550 kg (420-1,210 pounds). In the Serengeti National Park, lions were observed to also scavenge on the carrion of animals that were killed by other predators or died from natural causes. In Botswana's Chobe National Park, lions also prey on young and subadult African bush elephants.
Generally, lions have a polygynous mating system, in which one male can mate with a number of females. They breed throughout the year with the peak period, occurring during the rainy season. The gestation period lasts from 110 to 119 days, yielding 3-6 cubs on average. The female gives birth in a hidden, solitary nursery. Reaching the age of 4-6 weeks, the cubs join the pride. Usually, all females of the pride feed and care for the young; when a mother female leaves the pride to hunt, another lactating female will feed her cubs. Weaning occurs at the age of 6-7 months, though the cubs typically stay close to their mother during the first two years of their lives. Males become reproductively mature at 5 years old while females reach maturity earlier, at 2.5-3 years of age.
In Africa, these rare animals are threatened by pre-emptive killing or in retaliation for preying on livestock. Prey base depletion, loss, and conversion of habitat have led to a number of subpopulations becoming small and isolated. Trophy hunting has contributed to population declines in Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Zambia. It is the primary cause of the decline of lion populations in Tanzania's Selous Game Reserve and Katavi National Park. Although lions and their prey are officially protected in Tsavo National Parks, they are regularly killed by local people, with over 100 known lion killings between 2001 and 2006. Between 2008 and 2013, bones and body parts from at least 2621 individual lions were exported from South Africa to Southeast Asia and another 3437 lion skeletons between 2014 and 2016. Lion bones are used to replace tiger bones in traditional Asian medicines. Uncontrolled bushfires and the hunting of lions and prey species in Zambia's Kafue National Park make it difficult for the lion population to recover. Cub mortality in particular is high.
According to IUCN Red List, in 2014 the total population size of the Southern lion is estimated to be 2,265 individuals in Southern Africa and 1,266 individuals in Eastern Africa. As a whole, the lion species is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List, and its numbers today are decreasing.
Lions are an irreplaceable link in the ecosystem of their range. Feeding upon herbivorous animals such as zebras or buffaloes, they control the numbers of these species populations. Otherwise, these herbivores could out-compete other animals of their range, leading to the complete extinction of these species and thus destructing the biodiversity of the ecosystem.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...