5120 x 3413 px | 43,3 x 28,9 cm | 17,1 x 11,4 inches | 300dpi
Date de la prise de vue:
5 août 2007
Lieu:
India
Informations supplémentaires:
Asiatic lions have a shaggier coat than their African counterparts, and both sexes have a distinctive fold of skin that runs along the belly. They have a longer tassel of hair on the end of the tail and longer tufts of hair on the elbows. Males are 1.7-2.5 m long and weigh 150-250 kg. While females are 1.4-1.75 m in length and weigh in at 120-182 kg. Like all cats they are equipped with powerful retractable claws and long sharp canine teeth that are used in dragging their prey to the ground. Like African lions, hunting is a cooperative affair but adult males rarely participate. If vegetation is sparse, hunting usually takes place at night, but where it is thick, it may also take place during the day. The lions use stealth to approach their prey and then charge and either grab or knock it down before it outruns them. Only one in about four charges ends successfully. Lions are inactive for most of the day, spending up to 20 hours per day resting or sleeping. Like their African cousins, Asian lions are highly social animals, living in units called prides. However, the Asiatic pride is much smaller, with an average of only 2 females compared to the African pride, which has an average of four to six. The males are also less social and only associate with the pride when mating or on a large kill. It has been suggested that this may be because of the smaller prey available in Gir. Small prey mean less animals are needed to hunt them down, and there would be less meat to share between more lions if the prides were larger.
