Thursday, October 13, 2011

African lions are the Most Famous of the Kenya Animals

By Imani Kimatt


Kenya's African lion population stands at approximately 2,000. African lions are a few of the most prized Kenya animals and are particularly sought after by holiday makers to the country.

A lion's coat is typically fawn while the body measures anything from 4.5 to 6.5 feet long. Male lions are famous for the shock of hair around the head that's known as the mane.

Lionesses weigh between 120 to 190 kilograms. Male lions are often bigger and their weight sometimes exceeds 250 kilograms.

Lions belong to the Big Cat family that in Kenya also includes leopards and cheetahs. Usually, a group of lions (known as a pride) has 2-3 males but a dozen or even more lionesses. The strongest male becomes the head of the pride but is eventually succeeded by a younger, stronger and more potent male. Besides reproduction, the main task of the male lions is to secure their territory and shield the pride.

As lions are carnivores, their diet consists wholly of meat. Lionesses do most of the hunting. All the female lions in a pride hunt collectively, focusing on animals as varied as antelopes, wildebeests, zebras, giraffes and elephant babies. Nonetheless African lions aren't awfully fast sprinters and they tire quickly. Therefore they work in partnership to encircle and effortlessly seize an unlucky prey. They frequently focus on and detach very young or old as well as fragile individuals from a herd.

Like humans, African lions keep very close family connections. Finally however, teen males abandon their original prides and along with their peers, constitute new ones.

A lion's life span varies from ten to fifteen years. However , male lions generally enjoy a shorter life span owing to many turf battles with other male lions. This is due to the fact that lions are extremely territorial and will most likely fight to the death while trying to ward off intruders.

Lions mostly inhabit savanna grasslands. They spend the majority of their time lying and resting and can remain nearly motionless for at least 20 hours per day.

Collectively, African lions are one of the key tourist attractions in Kenya. Your best shot for sighting them is the Maasai Mara National Reserve, which is definitely the most prized of the more than 4 dozen Kenya national parks.




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