Tuesday, November 07, 2006

 

African Lion

Lions feed on a variety of large and medium-size prey. They prefer wildebeast (or gnu) to all others when the annual migration brings the vast herds through the pride's range. Otherwise they eat buffalo, zebra, antelope, giraffe, and warthogs. They also steal kills and carrion from other predators.
Lions are the only cats that live in large family groups. Each pride differs in size and formation, but a typical pride consists of two males and seven females and a variable number of cubs. Females are usually sisters and/or cousins that have grown up together. When the pride hunts as a group they employ an ambush that forces large prey into the waiting paws of the males. Females have the speed but lack the body weight to knock down large "family size" prey such as the wildebeast. Despite their tremendous power and adaptive efficiency, lions are more likely to fail than succeed in their attempts to kill.

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