Lions
By Robbie Haas
Introduction
Lions are really cool animals. They are the second largest member of the cat family. The thicker and darker the mane, the healthier the lion is. And the legendary white lions have less than 50 left in the wild, which means they are endangered. Last, some lions have been known to eat humans, but this has only happened with people that have injuries or disabilities.
Pictures of lions
Lions resting.
This lion is resting in the sun.
Lions hunting.
The lions are hunting.
Lion walking through tall grass.
Te lion is walking through tall grass and she is blending in.
Life Cycle
There are a couple of steps in a lion’s life cycle. The first step is that they are born. Lions give birth to 2 to 4 babies at a time. When the cub is about 10 days old, it starts to walk. When it’s 4 to 6 weeks old, it gets introduced to the pride. When it’s 6 months to 1 year old, it is weaned. At 11 months, it learns to hunt.When it is 3-4 years old, they are able to reproduce or give birth. If I were 3-4 years old I could not have babies. And at 5-6 years, they are fully grown. Finally, when they are about 20 years old, that's about their average age.
Body
Lions bodies are really cool. There are lots of different parts or features. They weigh 500 pounds (230 kilograms). Male lions have manes because it protects them like a shield for it’s neck when it fights. A lion has a long body, short legs, sharp claws, and a large head. Adult males are 9 to 10 feet long, including the tail.They stand about three feet tall.
Food
Lions eat a lot of things like zebras, warthogs, wildebeests, gazelles, buffalo, young elephants, rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes,and sometimes little animals like mice, birds, hares, lizards, and tortoises! Male lions eat 15% of their body weight each meal. Also, a lioness eats about 10 lbs each feeding. When lions hunt, they aim for the ankles to trip their food, then they kill it.
Weird Mixtures
There are some weird mixtures between lions and tigers. One weird mixture is a male tiger and a female lion is called a Tigon. And a female tiger and a male lion is called a Liger and that’s weird. It would be really weird if humans had mixtures.That would be creepy too!
Conclusion
Well as you can see lions are really cool animals and sometimes they can be really unusual and weird but they are fun to learn about and maybe even see. If you want to learn more go to www.lions.com
Fun Facts
Lions can jump 40 feet (12 meters long). That’s really far.
Lions are the only wild cats that live in groups.
Lions rest 18-20 hours a day. That’s almost the whole day.
Vocabulary Word
Tigon A male tiger and a female lion is called a Tigon.
Liger A female tiger and a male lion is called a Liger.
Weaned Weaned is when they are able to eat real food and not just milk.