Lion (Panther Leo)
The lion has been known since ancient times as the “king of the Beasts”; Large, majestic and agile, it once ranged over a wide territory. As late as 500 B.C., lions roamed over Eastern Europe as far west as Italy, the Near East from Turkey to India, throughout Arabia and all Africa from Gibraltar to the Cape of Good Hope. Today, the lion’s range has been greatly reduced and this big cat is found only in southern Africa, Iran, Arabia and western India.
A massive cat, the lion is well-muscled, powerful and surprisingly agile for its size. The male has a heavy mane, unique among theFelidae, which covers head and neck, extending down on to the chest and backward over the abdomen to the hind legs. There are also thick growths of hair on the elbows of the forelegs and a hairy tuft on the tipoff the tail. The coat is predominantly a solid tawny or yellowish-browncolour without spots, rosettes or stripes. Males sometimes reach an overall length of ten feet, measured from the nose to the tip of the tail. Although the lioness is maleness and smaller than the male, she is nonetheless a powerful and ferocious cat, similar in appearance to the puma, or mountain lion, of the western hemisphere. The old saying that the female of the species is more dangerous than the male is aptly applied to the lioness.
(The lion, unlike some of the other cats, does not live in jungles. it is strictly a hunter and dweller of the plains, veldts and savannahs. Despite its ferocity in the hunt and its loud, threatening roar, the lion is basically a retiring animal. It is true that the Romans amused them-selves by staging fights between gladiators and lions in the CircusMaximus and other arenas; the slaughter of Christians by lions before Roman spectators was another barbarous use of the lion, However, the fact remains that lions rarely attack human beings and when they do, the reasons usually are starvation, pain and lack of mobility resulting from wounds, and an instinct to protect their young.)Even the most timid animal will attack a human being when goaded or enraged be-yond its tolerance (More than likely, the Romans resorted to abnormal and possibly inhuinane treatment of their lions to make the animals ferocious and willing to attack human beings.)
Grazing animals, such as the giraffe, zebra, gazelle and other deer-like creatures, constitute the prey of lions. But when game is scarce, the big cats will hunt rodents, small mammals and—when driven to desperation because of hunger—even grasshoppers and locusts. The teamwork of a pair of hunting lions is a most impressive sight. The male usually drives the game toward the lioness and she makes the kill. In general, lions are not wanton killers; they never kill for mere sport, but only for food or in self-defense. Both the male and female are excellent parents, rearing and guarding their cubs. Consequently, they lead busy lives supplying food for the young and teaching the cubs how-to survive in a rough, highly competitive environment.
The lion is a regal animal and even in the sometimes limited and unsuitable quarters of zoos and menageries this great cat manages to maintain its royal bearing. Our domestic cat also has this majestic mien and in some of its attitudes and mannerisms reminds one of the lion.