Lion

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[CENTER][FONT=Times New Roman][SIZE=3]Lion[/SIZE][/FONT][/CENTER]

[LEFT][FONT=Times New Roman]The lion ([I]Panthera leo[/I]) is a member of the family [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felidae"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Felidae[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and one of four [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_cat"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]big cats[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] in the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]genus[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] [I][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera"][COLOR=blue]Panthera[/COLOR][/URL][/I]. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg (550 [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pound_%28mass%29"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]lb[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]) in weight,[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#cite_note-nowak-1#cite_note-nowak-1"][COLOR=blue][2][/COLOR][/URL] it is the second-largest living cat after the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]tiger[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. Wild lions currently exist in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]sub-Saharan Africa[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Asia[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] with a [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critically_endangered"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]critically endangered[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] remnant population in northwest [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]India[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], having disappeared from [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Africa"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]North Africa[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], the Middle East, and western Asia in historic times. Until the late [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Pleistocene[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread large land mammal beside humans. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India, and the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bering_land_bridge"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Bering land bridge[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and, in the Americas, from the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Yukon[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] to Peru.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Lions live for approximately 10–14 years in the wild, while in captivity they can live over 20 years. They typically inhabit [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savanna"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]savanna[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassland"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]grassland[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], although they may take to bush and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]forest[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. Lions are unusually [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_animal"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]social[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungulate"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]ungulates[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. The lion is an [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apex_predator"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]apex[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_predator"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]keystone predator[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], although they will resort to scavenging if the opportunity arises. While lions, in general, do not selectively hunt humans, some have been known to become man-eaters and seek human prey.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]The lion is a [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulnerable_species"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]vulnerable species[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of 30 to 50% over the past two decades in its African range;[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion#cite_note-IUCN-0#cite_note-IUCN-0"][COLOR=blue][1][/COLOR][/URL] populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not well understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are currently the greatest causes of concern. Lions have been kept in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menagerie"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]menageries[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] since [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_era"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Roman times[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and have been a key species sought after and exhibited in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoo"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]zoos[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] the world over since the late eighteenth century. Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Lion"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Asiatic subspecies[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Visually, the male is highly distinctive and is easily recognized by its [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mane"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]mane[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. The head of the male lion is one of the most widely recognized animal symbols in human [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]culture[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. It has been depicted extensively in literature, in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculpture"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]sculptures[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]paintings[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], on national [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]flags[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], and in contemporary films and literature.[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]The lioness has been recognized, however, as the pinnacle of hunting prowess from the earliest of human writings and graphic representations. The lionesses are the hunters for their pride and execute their skills with precision and complex teamwork. Each lioness develops specific skills for her role in the hunting techniques used by her pride and, generally, assumes that role during most hunts. Members of human cultures living among lions in natural habitats have understood this characteristic and often have chosen the lioness to represent their most ferocious [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_deities"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]war deities[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warriors"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]warriors[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], often naming their male rulers as her "son". Examples drawn from the earliest of written records include the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pantheon"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Egyptian pantheon[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] deities of [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekhmet"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Sekhmet[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bast"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Bast[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menhit"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Menhit[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman], and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefnut"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Tefnut[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and these deities may have had precursors in [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Nubia[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lybia"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Lybia[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman]. Other Egyptian deities are quite complex and assume aspects that may include one as a lioness headed human or a lioness in specific roles. Depictions of lions hunting in groups have existed from the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upper_Paleolithic"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Upper Paleolithic[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] period, with carvings and paintings from the [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lascaux"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Lascaux[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman] and [/FONT][URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauvet_Cave"][COLOR=blue][FONT=Times New Roman]Chauvet Caves[/FONT][/COLOR][/URL][FONT=Times New Roman].[/FONT][/LEFT]