Lions are known to be the king of the jungle. But actually, they live in the Savannah, not in the jungle. They are the most sociable of all the cats in to world. In a pride of lions, there can be 2-5 males, 4-12 females, and a lot of cubs ranging in different ages. When the cubs reach puberty, the females stay with the pride while males are chased away and have to fend for themselves and find another pride to join.
The females of the pride usually do the hunting but when they bring down an animal, the males have first choice of the meat. When they are finished, they leave to sleep and the females come in to take the leftovers. Well, that seems unfair, since the females did all the work and the males never do anything but the males do have special duties. Sometimes, the males help the females bring down big animals like buffalo, protect the herd, and chase away trespassing males that can take over the pride. If a male leaves the pride because it’s too old or needs relaxation by living alone, the whole pride is vulnerable since the females are much weaker than the males so they hide in the grass. But if they are found, the male kills all of the cubs and takes over the pride. Then the females mate with their new leader. In that way, none of the cubs have another males genes. So males are pretty useful to a pride.
Lions usually prey on animals like wildebeest, Thompson’s gazelle, impala, zebra, buffalo, and other animals. They usually look for the young, sick, and old to prey on and try to drive them away from the protection of the herd. In this way, the lions keep the herds in a biological balance, so there won’t be over populated groups or spread of disease through the herd. Surprisingly, lions are usually successful 1 out of 9 hunting trips so that's why they're so often seen resting for quite some time in the middle of the day. They usually prey on Thompson’s gazelle, but if they get a chance, they will try to catch a buffalo if there are enough members and ready for a feast or they're just desperate. Some are known to trying to catch baby elephants, hippopotamuses, rhinoceroses, and giraffes, if they ever got a chance. Their prey is killed by a suffocating bite to the throat. But most animals have a weak spots like their rear end and their underside which help bring them down.
When they mate, the females are in heat to tell the males they are ready. They start circling the males and the two of them go off to mate. They mate a lot of times - sometimes up to 150 times before they are done. Then, when its time to give birth, the female leaves the pride for a while to the bush. There, the female gives birth, usually to 3 cubs. They are first blind and hairless and need constant attention from their mother. When they’re about 3 weeks old, they have fur on their bodies and their eyes are opened, so the female and the cubs go back to the pride. If the males accept the female, the female and her new cubs with their eyes open will live together with the pride. But if they’re not, the cubs would be known as a danger for the pride would probably be killed off so the female will mate once again.
The lions habits are fairly simple. Eat, sleep, play. Lions tire easily from hunting so they spend most of their day sleeping. They play to socialize, like humming to each other and purring. The cubs practise hunting on their siblings, while the older lions play with the cubs, scent their territory, look out for danger, socialize, look for prey, or just sleep. When the older lions hunt, the cubs watch how so when they grow up, they can be as successful.
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