-     Lions are big – some males can exceed 250 kg (550 lb in weight) but is not the biggest, the Siberian Tiger is larger. But it is the tallest.

-     Lions are the only social cat out of necessity. They have to work together to hunt as a coordinated effort is more successful. They live in a group called a pride.  

-     The lion is the only cat to show a marked difference in appearance between the male and the female – the large mane only grows on the males.

-     The mane is there to intimidate rivals as it makes the lion look larger.

-     The lion is also the only cat whose tail ends in a tuft. The tuft does not grow until the lion cub is around 5 and a half months old.

-     Lions sleep for up to 20 hours a day.

-     Lionessses do most of the hunting for the pride, as they are smaller and faster and less conspicuous than the males with their big manes.

-     Although lions have very sharp teeth, they usually kill their prey by asphyxiation (strangulation) .

-      Most lions hunt large mammals such as antelope, wildebeest, zebras and warthogs but lions living near the Namib coast feed extensively on seals. Occasionally, lions when very hungry will even hunt baby elephant.

-      An adult male lion requires an average of 11lb (5kg)  of meat per day – that’s the equivalent of 44 burgers! But in the wild they will usually gorge one day eating up to 66lb (30kg) in one sitting as they are not successful in hunting every day.

-      In the wild a male lion may reach the age of 15 but usually don’t live beyond the age of 10. In captivity they have been known to live well into their 20’s.

-      Lions have the loudest roar of any big cat and can be heard up to 8 kilometres away.