The lion is one of the most powerful carnivores on the planet, and given its reputation, you must know something about the lion. However, there are still some little things about lions that you probably don't know. Check out the following to see if you haven't heard of it.
1. About 2,000 years ago, there were millions of lions roaming the planet, causing a bloody storm in the animal kingdom.
100 years ago, there were 200,000 lions in Africa, but today, there are less than 34,000 lions on the earth, of which humans may account for half of them in captivity. There are fewer than 600 Asian lions left today, all living in Gir National Park in India.
2. The lion is muscular and strong, and the jump distance can reach 11 meters, which is equivalent to a 3-story building.
3. Although the lion is one of the strongest predators on the African land, the speed of the lion is actually relatively slow. Their average running speed is less than 50 km/h, and although they can occasionally reach a speed of 80 km/h, they will slow down after too long. Therefore, they either crouch at the water's edge and wait for their prey to drink, or they ambush behind bushes or other objects and wait until they are close enough to their prey to strike.
4. Not all male lions have manes. In our impression, the female lion is relatively small and has no mane, while the male lion is larger and has a thick mane on the head. But the Chavo lion, which lives in Kenya and Tanzania, is the only lion whose males also lack a mane.
5. The age of a male lion can be seen from the mane, the older the lion, the darker the mane. Female lions were also more attracted to darker, thicker manes, which seemed to them to be closely related to the health of the lion.
6. Generally, lions don't start moving until after dusk. After the hunt is over, it takes only an hour for them to eat. In addition, their main life content is - sleep. You may not believe it, but a lion can sleep an average of 16-20 hours a day, and sometimes even 24 hours.
7. In fact, despite being born to roam the grasslands, wild lions are more likely to die than bred lions. According to statistics, the average life expectancy of wild female lions is about 15 years, and that of male lions is about 10 years; while lions raised by humans can usually live to 30 years old.
The first reason for the short lifespan of wild lions is that they are more likely to be hunted by poachers. In addition, they may encounter more dangers in nature. Sometimes they even take more damage in a fight with each other, leading to loss of life.
