Big cats are ROARsome THE AMAZING TRUTH ABOUT LIONS
The “king of the jungle” once roamed as far north as Europe. These days they only live on grasslands and savannah in Africa, with a few in India. There may be just 20,000 left in the wild.
Lions live in family groups called prides, usually about 15 strong but sometimes numbering up to
40. In the wild a lion lives about
12 years but can make it to 25 in a zoo. The darker the mane, the older it is.
The males make a lot of noise and their roar can be heard five miles away. They need about seven kilos of meat every day and spend their lives patrolling their territory.
The females eat five kilos and do 90% of the hunting. Their DYNASTIES is back tonight and this time it focuses on a pride of lions.
Sir David Attenborough’s series made headlines last week after the film crew rescued a group of trapped penguins.
Now the focus switches as the BBC One show follows two lionesses left to defend eight cubs.
Here JAMES MOORE reveals some top facts about everyone’s favourite big cats… Although they can grow up to 7ft long and weigh 500lb, lions are typically smaller than tigers and sleep a lot – up to 20 hours a day. They can run at up to 50mph and leap as far as 35ft.
Lions are love cats…they can mate up to 40 times in 24 hours, although sex usually only lasts 10 seconds!
Lions kill around 250 people a year – but humans kill
600 of them in legal hunts alone. The 2015 killing of Cecil the lion by a US dentist on a hunting trip in Zimbabwe sparked outrage.
Used for entertainment since Roman times – when they fought gladiators in the arena – lions have long been big in the movies. MGM had one as its mascot and we’ve also had flicks like The Lion King and Born Free, based on a true story about a couple raising a cub to adulthood. The Three Lions symbol dates back to 12th century king Richard the Lionheart. It has been on England football shirts since 1872 with the women’s side also recently dubbed the Lionesses. Lions appear on the crests of clubs including Chelsea, Sunderland, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.
A rampant red lion is a symbol of Scotland and The Red Lion is Britain’s most common pub name – there are 600 of them. The name dates back to Scottish king James I taking the English throne in 1603.
The lions in London’s Trafalgar Square were cast in bronze from cannons captured from defeated ships at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
Film star Tippi Hedren and her now actress daughter Melanie Griffith had a pet lion called Neil in the 1970s. Boxer George Foreman also kept a lion which he once took to one of his fights.