Scientific name -- Panthera leo
Size -- 450 lbs. male, 300 lbs. female
Diet -- large herbivores, especially wildebeest and zebra

Lions are the largest of the big cats. They specialize in hunting large herbivores, such as zebra and wildebeest, but have been known to eat virtually all African land animals over a few pounds. Like all cats, lions have great acceleration but poor stamina, so they rely on ambush and group tactics to catch their prey. Most lions attack from within 100 feet of a target prey animal. Even so, a great percentage of animals still manage to escape.

While the conventional wisdom is that females do most of the hunting, male lions are quite capable if not superior hunters. Female lions are social, which allows them to hunt cooperatively, while males are solitary and spend much of their energy patrolling a large territory. Females need to spend extra time hunting since the male takes no part in caring for the young. Female lions form prides of two-to-eighteen related individuals, making them the only truly social cat. While hunting in groups may be effective, it is not dramatically more effective then hunting alone, since more food must be gathered to feed the entire pride. It is more likely that females socialize to help defend their cubs from male lions.

Historically, the range of the lion extended up into Europe. They have been extinct from Europe for about 2000 years and are presently confined to conservation areas in sub-Saharan Africa. A relict population of about 250 of the Asiatic lion sub-species still exists in India. While they do attack people, lion existence is also at odds with the widespread cattle culture of Africa.