subject: The African King of the Jungle [print this page] The African King of the Jungle
The King of the jungle or the lion is the most famous animal in Africa. A tour to Africa is not complete without having visited these majestic, strong and proud rulers of the wild. They are light yellow brown in color. You can tell a male from a female by the mane the male lion adorns. This is a fringe of thick black or brown hairs than run from the neck to the upper back. They protect the lion when it is fighting with the others. A mature male lion weighs about 150 kg to 227 kg and is about 4 feet tall. Its length is about 5 to 8 feet. The females are smaller and weigh much less. It is the second largest cat after the tiger. It is the only cat that is social and lives in groups.
Lions live for about ten to fourteen years in the wild and about twenty to twenty five years in captivity. It can run for short distances at a speed of about 50 mph. Its purely a carnivore and thrives on the meat of wildebeests, gazelles, impalas, zebra and buffaloes. When food is scarce, they can bring down an elephant though they must work as a team.
The King of the jungle today can only be found in some parts of the South Sahara desert, East and South Africa. In ancient times, the lions used to roam freely in Africa. There population has greatly decreased because of food scarcity, human interference and disease. Today, only about 21000 can be found in Africa.
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
