The Lion is the King of the Jungle. We’ve all lived with that assumption and story. One of the five big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the Felidae family, the lion can be commonly found in Africa.
While the actual term is African Lion, we always use Lion. Wild lions live in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia. In Asia, the endangered remnant population resides in Gir Forest National Park in India. Nowadays, the lion is considered a vulnerable species, as they have seen a major decline between 30 and 50 percent in the last two decades.
There is no clear reason for the decline, but some experts point to habitat loss and conflicts with humans. Those are the two greatest causes of concern.
In the wild, a lion lives no longer than 10 to 14 year. In captivity, lions can survive up to 20 years. Some males exceed 550lbs in weight, making the lion the second-largest living cat after the tiger. And yes, the tiger is a larger cat than the lion, even though most people view lions as the bigger animals. It is all due to their fur.
