Introduction - The lion is the largest predator in Africa, it spends much of its time hunting, patrolling terrortries and playing. Lions live in prides of up to 30 individuals which is comprised of between four and twelve related females. Lionesses remain in the pride for life while male lions form coalitions and defend the females of a group from rival males.

Lions are terratorial animals and can defend a territory of up to 400 square kilometers. Between two and three years old young male lions leave the pride and become nomadic for around two years. At the age of 5 years male lions settle down with their own pride. Females do the majority of the hunting with all the females in the pride hunting as a team.

Apart from roaring, Lions also communicate by scent-marking their surroundings, and even by their facial expressions and body postures. Lions display their aggression by showing their impressive canine teeth, retracting their ears and displaying the dark patch behind the ears, their tails twitching in irritation.

Lions can only be found in the north of Namibia. Between 250 & 750 lions live in Etosha National Park while smaller populations exist in the Caprivi, Bushmanland and in Kaokoland

Diet - Lions can hunt pretty much any animals but wildebeest, gemsbok and zebras are common prey

Colouring - Their underparts are whitish with a general tawny to sandy tinge. Rosettes and spots are characteristic of young animals and females often retain these on their underparts. Only males have a long tawny mane on the sides of the face and on top of the head. In some individuals this mane can become almost black.

Breeding - Lions are non-seasonal breeders, yet females of a pride often synchronize births. After a gestation period of 110 days, one to four cubs are born. Cubs start taking meat after ten weeks. Females suckle their own and one another's cubs for up to six months. After birth, cubs are hidden for six weeks after which mothers bring them to the pride's crèche. The young remain dependant on the organisational success of the pride for up to three years.

Size - A male Lion is 1.2m tall at the shoulders and has a mass of up to and over 200 Kg. Females are slightly smaller and weigh about 130 Kg

Wildlife Namibia

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