COMMON NAME
Lion
SCIENTIFIC NAME
Panthera lio.

The picture was taken in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve

Lions are the most social of the cat family. They live in prides consisting of one or two males, up to seven females and 14 or 15 cubs of different ages. Prides occupy territories that they defend against nomadic lions and other prides; this is done by the dominant male or males, by means of patrolling and scent marking.
   At about 3 years of age, young lions are evicted from their  pride; they normally stay together, always on the move, becoming nomads, until they take over some other pride, whose male as become too weak or old, sometimes killing all the existing cubs.
   The female normally does all the hunting, usually at night, late afternoon or early morning. At a kill, the adults will eat first, with the male sometimes claiming it for himself, and, if anything left, the cubs will then take their turn. In times of scarcity this means very little food available for the cubs, and death by starvation.