Tigers, lions, leopards, jaguars and cheetahs are known as "big cats". They are members of the falid family
The
coloration of the lion depends greatly on its 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 trgal appearance that we all associate with
the lion.
The
lion is the only cat with a tuft at the en of its 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 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 300 Kg. The lion had a body length (including its tail) of over
3.3metres.
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 inhibit a small pocket of forest in Western India while the rest
of the world's lions population are to be found in sub - Saharan Africa.
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