• The lion is Africa's largest carnivore.
• The lion is the only cat species in the world that live and hunt in groups.
• Lions are good swimmers and are able to climb trees.
• Both males and females are able to roar (audible for as far as 8 km), and both also defend the prides' territory.
  The maximum speed an adult lion can reach over a short distance is 60 to 80 km/hour.
• It is more advantageous that lionesses rather than lions do the hunting because females are lighter, smaller and without a conspicuous mane.
  
  
• The horny papillae on a lion's tongue are used to scrape the flesh from bones and through the skin of prey; lapping up water, and removing parasites during grooming.
• Although they sometimes hunt during the day, +- 88% of all successful hunting attempts are at night.
  A strip of tissue in the eye behind the retina (known as the Tapetum lucidum), which intensifies bad light by reflecting it back into the retina, causes the eyes of a predator such as the lion, to reflect brightly at night.
  
  
• Only adult males have a mane, usually with an average length of +- 16 cm.
• Stress, from lack of food or injuries is usually the cause for the loss of an adult male's mane.
• Males of the Senegalese lion (P. l. senegalensis) of West Africa have almost no mane, whilst the famous man-eating lions of Tsavo in east Africa were all adult mane-less male lions.
  
  
• The Asian lion (Panthera leo persica) is presently threatened with extinction in the wild.
• Lions had previously been found in the wild in Europe and North Africa but are now extinct in these areas. The last wild European lion was killed +- 100 AD in Greece.
• The three main reasons why a lion will attack a human are: hunger, fear and to protect its cubs.
  
  

• Big cats don't bury their faeces like most smaller cat species do;
• Big cats usually lie down to feed whilst smaller cat species feed in a crouched position;
• Big cats rest with their paws in front of the body, tail extended straight backwards, whilst small cats tuck their forepaws beneath the body, tail wrapped round the body.

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