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Skip to contentSearchShopNational Geographic Kids Logo - HomeGamesQuizzesPersonality QuizzesPuzzlesActionFunny Fill-InVideosAmazing AnimalsWeird But True!Party AnimalsTry This!AnimalsMammalsBirdsPrehistoricReptilesAmphibiansInvertebratesFishExplore MoreMagazinehistoryScienceSpaceU.S. StatesWeird But True!Subscribemenu<i>CUB CUTIE:</i> Young African lions grow up in prides with between 3 and 40 other felines. Females usually live with the pride for life, but males often leave when they’re a few years old.<br> Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.A male lion's loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry as far as five miles (eight kilometers).Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.A lion cub yawns as he sits by other members of his pride.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Female lions typically give birth to between one and six cubs every two years.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Lion cubs rely on adults in their pride until they are around a year and a half old.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Lions are family animals and live in communities.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.Lions are the laziest of the big cats. They spend 16-20 hours of the day sleeping or resting.Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.A male African lion in Omaha, NebraskaPlease be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.1 / 81 / 8<i>CUB CUTIE:</i> Young African lions grow up in prides with between 3 and 40 other felines. Females usually live with the pride for life, but males often leave when they’re a few years old.<br> CUB CUTIE: Young African lions grow up in prides with between 3 and 40 other felines. Females usually live with the pride for life, but males often leave when they’re a few years old. Photograph by Martin Willis, Minden Pictures
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Common Name: African lionsScientific Name: Panthera leoType: MammalsDiet: CarnivoreGroup Name: PrideSize: Head and body, 4.5 to 6.5 feet; tail, 26.25 to 39.5 inchesWeight: 265 to 420 pounds

Lion prides can be as small as 3 or as big as 40 animals. In a pride, lions hunt prey, raise cubs, and defend their territory together. In prides the females do most of the hunting and cub rearing. Usually all the lionesses in the pride are related—mothers, daughters, grandmothers, and sisters.

Many of the females in the pride give birth at about the same time. A cub may nurse from other females as well as its mother. Each pride generally will have no more than two adult males.

0:28In this episode of Moment of… watch a lioness as she hunts for her dinner. You’ll be amazed by what happens when she leaps for her lunch!

While the females usually live with the pride for life, the males often stay for only two to four years. After that they go off on their own or are evicted by other males who take over the pride. When a new male becomes part of the pride it is not unusual for him to kill all the cubs, ensuring that all future cubs will have his genes. The main job of males in the pride is defending the pride's territory. A male's loud roar, usually heard after sunset, can carry for as far as five miles (eight kilometers). The roar warns off intruders and helps round up stray members of the pride.

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Hunting generally is done in the dark by the lionesses. They often hunt in groups of two or three, using teamwork to stalk, surround, and kill their prey. Lionesses aren't the most successful of hunters, because they usually score only one kill out of several tries. After the kill the males usually eat first, lionesses next—and the cubs get what's left. Males and females fiercely defend against any outside lions that attempt to join their pride.

Because of their size, strength, and predatory skills, lions are considered one of the “big cats.” Tigers, cheetahs, leopards, jaguars, and cougars are also part of this grouping.

Take the big cat quiz to see how much you know about these fierce felines. Then, just for fun, see which wild cat you’re most like with our personality quiz.

1:46Lions are the only big cats that live in groups called prides, which consist of mostly related females, their cubs, plus one or two adult males. Learn more amazing facts about these amazing creatures in this video from National Geographic Kids.Legal
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