Vulnerable (IUCN 3.1)

Lions

Panthera leo

The lion, Panthera leo, is one of the largest living cats in the world second only to its larger cousin, the tiger. However, these species are very different from one another. The lion is a social predator—and the only social feline in the world—as well as a cursorial predator. Sleeping mainly during the day, lions are typically more active at night (nocturnal), although some individuals and groups are more active at twilight (crepuscular).

Lion range. Panthera and WCS 2016. Panthera leo. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-3

Historically, the lion’s range included the whole of Africa, southern portions of Europe, India, and much of Southwest Asia. Today, due to human encroachment (urban and commercial development, agriculture, and pollution) and disturbance (war), their range has been drastically reduced. While most countries in sub-Saharan Africa are home to lions, the largest remaining ranges are in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya, and the Central African Republic. Outside of Africa, the only remaining lions are a single, isolated sub-population—Panthera leo persica—in India’s Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary.

The lion has a fairly broad range of ecological tolerance, meaning that it is well suited in a number of different ecosystems. Lions have been recorded in the Bale Mountains and on Kilimanjaro, absent only from the tropical rainforests of Africa and the interior of the Sahara Desert. In India, the remaining Asiatic lion inhabits a dry deciduous forest.

These social cats live together in groups, typically divided by gender into family groups of related females called pridesand pairs or groups of males called coalitions. Coalitions compete for tenure with pride groups, which average between four to six adults (male and female).

Prey consists of mainly of medium- to large-sized ungulates (antelopes, zebra, and wildebeest), but will predate on almost anything from small rodents to larger mammals like rhino, giraffe, and elephant. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have, earning the species a reputation as man eaters.