| With bone-crushing teeth and crazy sharp claws, it's easy to spot this king of the jungle! |
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You gotta have respect for this top cat!
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H20 HOARDER
Lions can survive for up to five days in the wild without drinking water, as they can absorb much needed moisture from the stomach contents of their prey. Gross!
SERIOUSLY STRONG
Powerful and dominant, with superhero strength, the lion has the greatest front body strength of any big cat. In fact, lions are so strong that a blow from their front paw would be enough to break a zebra's back.
EYE SPY
Lion's eyes are over six times more sensitive to light than humans', making hunting prey at night a piece of cake!
TERRIFYING TEETH
With a mouthful of 8cm long canine teeth, we're wondering why lions don't chew their food instead of just swallowing it whole! We're guessing they use them, along with a set of rough spines on their tongues called papillae, to scrape meat from bones!
A MONSTER'S MANE
Unique among the big cat family, the male lion's mane makes him appear seriously strong and perilously powerful to intimidate predators and competitors. The mane also protects the lion's face during fights and attracts female attention!
SUPERSIZED SIMBA
While large male lions can weigh up to 250kg in the wild, lions in captivity tend to be even bigger. The heaviest lion on record was Simba, who weighed 375kg!
DAILY LIFE OF LIONS
Lions may come across as lazybones, spending about 20 hours each day resting and snoozing. However, most lions will also spend approximately two hours walking and another hour eating as much as 30kg of food at once!
 RAZOR SHARP CLAWS
To stop their weapons of mass destruction from getting blunt, and to stay stealthily quiet, a lion's claws can be retracted while walking.
A RAGING ROAR
Grab ya earplugs and turn up the tunes 'cos the roar of a lion, the loudest of any big cat, can be heard from over 8km away!
APOLLO THE ANCIENT
Lions usually live for about 14 years in the wild, but lions in captivity can live to be over 20. Apollo, a resident lion at Honolulu Zoo in Hawaii, lived to be a grandpa at 22 years of age and scored himself a place in the record books.
SNIFFED OUT
Like all cats, lions possess a special smelling (or olfactory) organ on the roof of their mouths. While hunting, lions often open their lips to draw air over this smelling organ (called a Jacobson's organ) to enhance their sharp sense of smell. Clever!
SUPER SPEEDSTER
As the major hunter of a lion pride, a lioness can reach speeds of up to 60km/hr. That's about as fast as ya parents would drive on a main road! |
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