big male lion, with its magnificent main and proud walk, it's easy to

understand why. Lions really do look like kings.

But lions don't always lead the easy lives of kings. They often need to work

hard to survive. Lions are meat eaters, or carnivores, so they must hunt

other animals for food. And sometimes prey is hard to find. When food is

scarce, a lion may go for days without eating.

Lions are members of the big cat family, which includes tigers, leopards, and

jaguars. The main difference between the big cats and all other cats is that

generally big cats can roar but cannot purr. Other cats can purr but cannot

roar.

The lion is one of the biggest cats in the world. Only the Siberian tiger is

larger. A male lion may be 9 to 10 feet long (3 meters) and can weigh 500

pounds (227 kilograms) or more. Female lions are smaller. The average female

is 7 to 8 feet long (2 l/2 meters) and weighs 270 to 350 pounds (140

kilograms).

Lions are different from most other cats in that they live in groups called

prides. They hunt together, guard their territory together, and raise their

young together. Lions that live in groups can catch more food than a single

lion can. And they can protect themselves better. Also, lions that are born

into groups have a large family to care for them.

There are two different kinds, or subspecies, of lions: the African and the

Asiatic. Most of the lions in the world today are African lions. These

animals live on the grassy plains of Africa. The few Asiatic lions that

remain live on a small wildlife preserve in India. There were once many other

kinds of lions in the world but all of these are now extinct.

Lions sometimes climb high up into trees to rest on their branches and escape

the biting insects below.

The body of a lion is made for catching prey. Most of the time, lions try to

get very close to their prey before they attack it. Then they make a big leap

and grab the prey. To help them get close without being seen, lions have

golden-brown coats that blend in with the land around them. And to help them

leap, they have strong muscles in their legs. A lion can leap 35 feet (10.5

meters) through the air in a single jump.

Lions do most of their hunting at night, so they have wonderful hearing and

eyesight to help them find prey in the dark. Their hearing is so sharp, they

can hear prey that is more than a mile away. Lions can turn their ears from

side to side to catch sounds coming from almost any direction. When a lion is

moving through tall grass, it may not always be able to see its prey -- but

it can always hear it. The eyes of lions are the biggest of any meat-eating

animal. Like the eyes of other cats, they are specially made for seeing at

night.

Lions often work together when they hunt. By doing this, they increase their

chances of getting food. A lion that hunts alone may have a hard time

catching prey.

Most of the hunting is done by a team of females. They divide the job among

them, with each female doing part of the work to catch the prey. Some of the

females scare prey animals and make them run -- while other females lie in

ambush to grab the fleeing animals.

The extra strength of a male is sometimes needed to bring down larger

animals, like wildebeest or buffalo. And larger animals are the best prey,

because they provide more meat.

No matter how good a lion is at hunting, it misses more prey than it catches.

Sometimes lions will go for days without eating. If lions can't find enough

of their regular prey, they will eat smaller animals like hares and tortoises

-- and even porcupines.

When they can, lions get their food by taking it away from other animals.

This is often easier than hunting. In some parts of Africa, much of the food

that lions eat is taken away from hyenas. When food is really scarce, lions

will eat almost anything they can find -- including snakes, locusts,

termites, peanuts, fruit, and rotten wood.

Baby lions are called cubs. And like most baby animals they need lots of

loving care. A lion cub is totally helpless at birth. It is blind and can

barely crawl. And it weighs less than 5 pounds (2 kg).

Cubs are born in-groups called litters. Usually, there are three cubs in a

litter. But sometimes there are as many as five. For the first few weeks of

their lives, the cubs stay hidden in a safe place away from the pride. Then

their mother brings them out to join the "family."

In a pride, all of the females help take care of the cubs. When one mother is

away hunting, the other lions feed and watch over her young. But sometimes,

all of the adults join the hunt. Then the cubs are hidden in the tall grass

or among the rocks.

A cub is born with dark spots all over its body. Some people think that the

spots may make it harder for predators to see the cubs when they are hidden.

A mother lion carries her babies in her mouth -- just like a motherhouse cat.

To keep predators from finding the cubs, she moves them to a new hiding place

every few days.

AFRICAN LION: FUTURE

Asiatic lions are endangered, and African lions have less living space than

in times past. This is because people are taking away their homes, or

habitats. The human population in Africa and Asia is rapidly growing, and

people are turning more and more land into farms and ranches. This means that

the lions have less food to eat and so it is harder for them to live.

Fortunately, wildlife organizations throughout the world are working hard to

save the lions' habitats. And governments in both Africa and India have set

aside special land where lions can live in safety.

AFRICAN LION: THE MANE CAT

Most experts agree that a lion will attack a human only if provoked. But the

experts also suggest that knowledge of the warning signs are mandatory for

anyone who travels by foot in the bush. An angry lion will drop to a crouch,

flatten its ears, and flick its tail tip rapidly from side to side. Low

grunts and growls can often be heard; and just prior to a charge, the tail is

jerked up and down. While these warning signs are important, it is perhaps of

greater importance that a lion can bolt from a crouch and travel 40 yards in

less than 2.7 seconds.

The lion is the largest of the African cats, weighing up to 200 kilograms

(440 pounds). Of the big cats, only the tiger is of greater size. The mane of

a male lion is the most distinguishing characteristic of the species,

although a small percentage of lionesses also have manes. The mane adds to

the apparent size of a male lion, and it is believed that the mane provides

added protection during male-to-male combat. The mane begins to develop at

about one year of age but remains short and scraggly until the male is three

or four years old. Another physical characteristic of lions is the tuft of

long hairs at the end of the tail. This black tassel occurs in both males and

females. Often, when females have cubs or are being courted by males, the

tail tassel is carried high above the ground. Researchers believe that this

behavior allows cubs or males to maintain visual contact with the female when

she moves through dense vegetation. Fortunately for us, it is also an

excellent way for humans to maintain visual contact.

LION: NO LONGER KING

You may have believed that African lions are the kings of the jungle. Well,

that's just not true. But the reason isn't because lions aren't the lordly

animals that you thought them to be; it's just that lions don't live in the

jungle. They live in the open savannas in Africa, which are grassy plains

with a few scattered trees.

Lions, of course, are big cats, but they're different from tigers, leopards

and other big cats because they are very social animals. They live in a group

called a "pride," which can have as many as 35 lions in it. Adult female

lions, or lionesses, and cubs make up most of each pride, although two or

three adult males live in it, too.

Hunting is how the lions get their food. They eat animals such as zebras,

gazelles, hartebeests, gnus and even buffalo. Lionesses do most of the

hunting but when it comes to eating, the adult males get their share first.

Lions often hunt together. A couple of lions may chase the prey and herd it

toward other lions hiding in the grass. Then the hiding lions leap out and

ambush the prey.

When lions eat, they often eat a whole lot of meat all at once. It's possible

for a wild lion to eat up to 40 pounds of meat at one sitting. But then it

may fast for several days and not eat anything. While it's fasting, the lion

may be very, very lazy and just sleep a lot ... until its time to eat again.

If you've ever heard the roar of a lion, you know what a thundering sound it

is. It's very possible for a lion's roar to be heard five miles away if the

wind conditions are right. Lions often roar just after the sun goes down.

Male lions have manes around their necks. A young male will start to grow a

mane when he's about a year old. It's believed that the mane helps protect

the neck areas of males when they fight with each other.

Baby lions are called cubs. A lioness will usually have three or four cubs in

an area protected by rocks or brush. Many animals are born with their eyes

closed, but it's possible for a lion cub to be born with its eyes open. The

cubs are very playful and love to wrestle and stalk each other. Lionesses

often care for each other's cubs, which is a little bit like baby-sitting.

Although African lions aren't an endangered species, there's a lion

subspecies that lives in Asia that is very rare and endangered.

So remember: While you may not be able to call a lion the king of the jungle,

there's certainly no reason you can't call him the king of beasts.

ASIAN LION

In the past, you could find hundreds of thousands of these lions in the

Middle East and Asia. Now, they number only 180, living on a small wildlife

preserve in India. Like the African lion, they've suffered from the

destruction of wild lands and from over hunting.

Once, people thought that Asian lions had shorter manes than African lions,

but that's not the case. Both can have either long or short manes.

WOLVES

COYOTE: PLACE IN THE FOOD CHAIN

Every animal on earth lives by eating some other living organism -- plant or

animal. The sequence of eaten and eater is called a food chain. The ultimate

source of the energy contained in food comes from the sun. It is stored in

the grass, and passed on to the grasshoppers. The alligator lizard, which

eats the grasshopper, is the next link in the food chain. It, in turn, is

eaten by a roadrunner, which then falls victim to the coyote.

The coyote is called an ultimate consumer because nothing hunts it for food.

But this food chain is a closed circle, the final link -- coyote -- being

fastened to the first -- the grass. When the coyote dies, its chemicals are

broken down by bacteria and returned to the soil, where they nurture more

plant growth.

Like many wild dogs, the coyote is usually active at night, when it can hunt

safely. You can often see a coyote in the early evening and morning, as it

goes to and from its nighttime activities.

Coyotes can run as fast as 40 miles per hour, and at slightly slower speeds,

they can run for miles. If a coyote can stay close to its prey, it has a

good chance of getting a meal.

DHOLE

In hunting style, the dhole is like the hyena. It hunts in a pack with other

dholes, whining, barking and whistling as they go. Whistling usually means

that the hunt is unsuccessful, and the pack should reassemble for another

try.

It is almost impossible for a single dhole to kill a deer, but five to twelve

dholes can manage it together. After the kill, dholes compete for the morsels

by eating very fast. A dhole can chew up almost nine pounds of meat in an

hour.

Strong, wise, brave -- all these words describe the gray wolf. But another

word needs to be added to the list: endangered.

Two hundred years ago, the gray wolf roamed throughout North America. But

many of them were shot by European settlers and pioneers, who were busy

cutting down the wolves' forest home for houses and towns. Those wolves that

remained found fewer deer, moose and beaver to eat.

Страницы: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5