Lion | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants

Lions have sparked our imaginations for centuries. Stars of movies and characters in books, lions are at the top of the food chain. The Swahili word for lion, simba, also means "king," "strong," and "aggressive." The word lion has similar meaning in our vocabulary. If you call someone lionhearted, you’re describing a courageous and brave person. If you lionize someone, you treat that person with great interest or importance.

Prime habitat for lions is open woodlands, thick grassland, and brush habitat, where there is enough cover for hunting and denning. These areas of grassland habitat also provide food for the herbivores that lions prey upon.

Lions differ from the other members of the large cat genus, Panthera—tigers, leopards, and jaguars. Adult male lions are much larger than females and usually have an impressive mane of hair around their neck. The color, size, and abundance of their mane all vary among individuals and with age. A mane’s function is to make a male look more impressive to females and more intimidating to rival males. A lion’s thick mane also protects his neck against raking claws during fights with other males over territory disputes or breeding rights.

Lions are also the only cats that live in large, social groups called “prides.” A pride can have 3 to 30 lions and is made up of lionesses (mothers, sisters, and cousins), and their cubs, along with a few unrelated adult males. The pride has a close bond and is not likely to accept a stranger. Unrelated males stay a few months or a few years, but older lionesses stay together for life. In dry areas with less food, prides are smaller, with two lionesses in charge. In habitats with more food and water, prides can have four to six adult lionesses. Both males and females scent mark to define their territory.

Living in a pride makes life easier. Hunting as a group means there is a better chance that lions have food when they need it, and it is less likely that they will get injured while hunting. Lion researchers have noticed that some activities are “contagious” within a pride. If one lion yawns, grooms themself, or roars, it sets off a wave of yawning, grooming, or roaring!

Lions and lionesses play different roles in the life of the pride. Lionesses work together to hunt and help rear cubs. This allows them to get the most from their hard work, keeping them healthier and safer. Smaller and lighter than males, lionesses have greater agility and speed. During hunting, smaller females chase prey toward the center of the hunting group. Then, larger and heavier lionesses ambush or capture the prey. Lionesses are versatile and can switch hunting jobs depending on which females are hunting that day and what kind of prey they're seeking.

While it may look like the lionesses do all the work in the pride, the males play an important role. While they do eat more than lionesses and bring in far less food (they hunt less than 10% of the time), males patrol, mark, and guard the pride’s territory. Males also guard cubs while lionesses hunt, and they make sure cubs get enough food. When a new male tries to join a pride, he must fight the males already there. The new male is either driven off or succeeds in pushing out the existing males.

Much of a lion’s life is spent sleeping and resting. Over the course of 24 hours, lions have short bursts of intense activity, followed by long bouts of lying around that total up to 21 hours! Lions are good climbers and often rest in trees, perhaps to catch a cool breeze or to get away from flies. Lions sometimes lie around in crazy poses, such as on their backs with their feet in the air, or legs spread wide apart!

Lions are famous for their sonorous roar. Males can roar at about one year old, and females can roar a few months later. Lions use their roar as one form of communication. It identifies individuals, strengthens the pride’s bond, and lets other lions know of the pride’s domain. Other sounds lions produce include growls, snarls, hisses, meows, grunts, and puffs, which sound like a stifled sneeze and are used in friendly situations.

Lions have other forms of communication as well, mostly used to mark territory. They spread their scent by rubbing their muzzle on tufts of grass or shrubs, and they rake the earth with their hind paws, as the paws have scent glands, too. Adult males also spray urine—stand back!

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