Animals

African Lion

Panthera Leo

The King of Beasts! The impressive mane, which encircles the head of the adult male lion, helps the lion to attract females. Male African lions will defend their territory fiercely and mark it with urine to help convey the message to other lions to stay away. The territory of one pride of lions may include 100 square miles (about half the size of the City of El Paso) of grasslands or open woodlands.

Fun Facts

Classification

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Felidae

Genus: Panthera

Species: P. Leo

Habitat

African lions once roamed most of Africa and parts of Asia and Europe, but the species has disappeared from 94 percent of its historic range and can only be found today in parts of sub-Saharan Africa. These lions stick to the grasslands, scrub, or open woodlands where they can more easily hunt their prey, but they can live in most habitats aside from tropical rain-forests and deserts.