Tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars and cheetahs are known as "big cats."
They are members of the falid family.
African Lion Panthera leo
The coloration of the lion depends greatly on it's geographical location with lions in desert regions being much lighter than lions that live in dense savannah. However a lions typical colour is tawny yellow. Male lions have thick bushy manes which distinguish them from females, protect them in fights with other males and of course give them that regal appearance that we all associate with the lion.
The lion is the only
big cat with a tuft at the end of it's tail. Cubs are born with spots that fade
as they get older but
some persist on the belly and legs.The lion is the second largest cat on the
planet (surpassed in size only by the tiger). It is the largest land predator
on the continent of Africa, with a body weight of up to 200 kg for males and
around 140 kg for females. The heaviest recorded lion ever was one of over 300
kg. This lion had a body length (including tail) of over 3.3 metres.
Lions were once much more widespread than they are today and could be found throughout the whole of Africa, Eastern Europe, Western Asia and into India. Today, the only Asian lions inhabit a small pocket of forest in Western India while the rest of the worlds lion population are to be found in sub - Saharan Africa.
Related Links: About Cats | Hotmail | Asiaone | Singapore InfoMap
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