Since time immemorial, people have fought with lions, fear and respect these beautiful animals. Even in the text of the Bible, lions are mentioned several dozen times, and mainly in a respectful context, although people did not see anything good from one of the main predators of the planet - they began to tame lions (and that is very conditional) only in the 19th century and exclusively for representations in circus. The rest of the relationship between man and lions in real nature fit into the “kill - be killed - run away” paradigm.
Huge - up to 2.5 m in length, 1.25 m at the withers - a cat weighing under 250 kg, thanks to its speed, agility and intelligence, is almost an ideal killing machine. Under normal conditions, a male lion does not even have to spend energy on hunting - the efforts of females are quite enough for it. The lion, who has lived to middle age (in this case, 7-8 years old), is mainly engaged in the protection of the territory and the pride.
On the one hand, lions adapt well to changing environmental conditions. The researchers note that in Africa, in dry years, lions easily survive the reduction in diet and can catch even relatively small mammals. For lions, the presence of greenery or water is not critical. But the lions could not adapt to the presence of man in their habitats. Still relatively recently - for Aristotle, lions living in the wild were a curiosity, but not legends of antiquity - they inhabited the south of Europe, Western and Central Asia and all of Africa. For several thousand years, both the habitat and the number of lions have decreased by several orders of magnitude. One of the researchers noted with bitterness that it is now easier to see a lion in Europe - in any large city there is a zoo or circus - than in Africa. But most people, of course, would rather look at the lions at the zoo to the opportunity to meet these beautiful seals and kitties in real life.
1. The social form of life in lions is called pride. This word is not used at all in order to somehow separate lions from other predators. Such symbiosis is rare in other animals. Pride is not a family, not a tribe, but also not a clan. This is a flexible form of coexistence of lions of different generations, which changes depending on external conditions. 7-8 lions and up to 30 individuals were seen in the pride. There is always a leader in him. Unlike human populations, the time of his reign is limited exclusively by the ability to resist the harassment of young animals. Most often, the leader of the pride expels male lions from him, showing at least minimal inclinations to seize power. The banished lions go to free bread. Sometimes they return to take the place of the leader. But more often the lions left without a pride die.
2. Unlike elephants, most of whose population was exterminated and continues to be exterminated by poachers, lions suffer mainly from “peaceful” people. Hunting for lions, even as part of an organized group with local guides, is extremely dangerous. In addition, unlike elephant hunting, it practically, with the exception of which will be discussed below, practically does not bring any profit. The skin, of course, can be laid on the floor by the fireplace, and the head can be hung on the wall. But such trophies are rare, while elephant tusks could be sold in hundreds of kilograms almost worth their weight in gold. Therefore, neither Frederick Cartney Stilous, on whose account more than 30 killed lions, nor the Boer Petrus Jacobs, who killed more than a hundred maned predators, nor the Cat Dafel, who shot 150 lions, did significant damage to the lion population, which in the 1960s was estimated at hundreds of thousands of heads. ... Moreover, in the Kruger National Park in South Africa, where lions were allowed to be shot in order to preserve other species of animals, the number of lions even increased during the shootings. Human economic activity affects the number of lions much more strongly.
3. It can be argued that there are few lions left, and they are actually on the verge of extinction. However, this reasoning will not change the fact that people who keep simple households and lions around cannot survive. Slow and clumsy cows or buffaloes will always be more desirable prey for a lion than fast and agile antelopes or zebras. And the sick king of beasts will not refuse human flesh. Scientists have found that almost all lions, mass murderers of people, suffered from tooth decay. It hurt them to chew the tough meat of the savannah animals. However, it is unlikely that those three dozen people who were killed by the same lion during the construction of a bridge in Kenya will be easier if they find out that their killer suffered from tooth decay. People will continue to displace lions into uninhabited areas, which remain less and less. After all, animal kings will only survive in reserves.
4. Lions share the speculative third in running speed among all animals with Thompson's gazelle and wildebeest. This trio is capable of accelerating to 80 kilometers per hour while hunting or fleeing from hunting. Only pronghorn antelopes (reaching speeds of up to 100 km / h) and cheetahs run faster. Cousins of lions in the feline family can give out a speed of 120 km / h. True, at this pace, the cheetah runs for only a few seconds, wasting almost all the forces of the body. After a successful attack, the cheetah has to rest for at least half an hour. It often happens that the lions that were nearby during this resting time appropriate the cheetah's prey.
5. Lions are champions of the living world in mating intensity. During the mating period, which usually lasts 3 to 6 days, the lion mates up to 40 times a day, while forgetting about food. However, this is an average figure. Special observations showed that one of the lions mated 157 times in a little over two days, and his relative made two lionesses happy 86 times a day, that is, it took him about 20 minutes to recuperate. After these figures, it is not surprising that lions are able to actively reproduce in not the most favorable conditions in captivity.
6. The lion fish is not at all like its namesake. This inhabitant of coral reefs was nicknamed the lion for her gluttony. I must say that the nickname is deserved. If a land lion can eat the equivalent of about 10% of its body weight at a time, then the fish easily swallows and eats underwater inhabitants of a size comparable to itself. And, again, unlike the earthly lion, the fish, which for its striped color is sometimes called a zebra fish, having devoured one fish, never stops and does not lie down to assimilate food. Therefore, the lionfish is considered potentially dangerous for the ecosystems of coral reefs - too gluttonous. And two more differences from the ground lion are the poisonous tips of the fins and very tasty meat. And the sea lion is a seal, whose roar is similar to the roar of a land lion.
7. The current king of the South African state of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland, the country was renamed to avoid confusion with Switzerland) Mswati III ascended the throne in 1986. According to the old custom, in order to fully comply with his powers, the king must kill the lion. There was a problem - by that time there were no lions left in the kingdom. But the precepts of the ancestors are sacred. Mswati went to Kruger National Park where a license to shoot a lion can be obtained. By acquiring a license, the king fulfilled an old custom. The “licensed” lion turned out to be happy - despite repeated opposition protests, Mswati III has been ruling his country with the lowest living standards even in Africa for over 30 years.
8. One of the reasons the lion is called the king of beasts is its roar. Why the lion makes this eerie sound is still not known for sure. Usually, the lion begins to roar in the hour before sunset, and his concert continues for about an hour. A lion's roar has a paralyzing effect on a person, this was noted by travelers who suddenly heard the roar close enough. But these same travelers do not confirm the beliefs of the natives, according to which lions paralyze potential prey in this way. Herds of zebras and antelopes, hearing the lion's roar, are wary of him only in the first seconds, and then continue to graze calmly. The most likely hypothesis seems to be that the lion roars, indicating its presence for fellow tribesmen.
9. The author of the most touching story about lions and humans is still killed, most likely from the attack of a lion, Joy Adamson. A native of the present Czech Republic, together with her husband, she saved three lion cubs from death. Two were sent to the zoo, and one was raised by Joy and prepared for adult life in the wild. Lioness Elsa became the heroine of three books and a film. For Joy Adamson, the love of lions ended in tragedy. She was killed either by a lion, or by a national park minister who received a life sentence.
10. Lions have a truly colossal tolerance for food quality. Despite their royal reputation, they easily feed on carrion, which is in an extreme degree of decomposition, which even hyenas disdain. Moreover, lions eat decomposed carrion not only in areas where their natural diet is limited by natural conditions. Moreover, in the Etosha National Park, located in Namibia, during the anthrax epidemic, it turned out that lions do not suffer from this deadly disease. In the overpopulated national park, some kind of drainage ditches were arranged, which served as drinking bowls for animals. It turned out that the underground waters feeding the drinking bowls were contaminated with anthrax spores. A mass plague of animals began, but anthrax did not work on the lions, feasting on the fallen animals.
11. The life cycle of lions is short, but full of events. Lion cubs are born, like most felines, absolutely helpless and need care for a relatively long time. It is carried out not only by the mother, but also by all the females of the pride, especially if the mother knows how to successfully hunt. Everyone is condescending to kids, even the leaders tolerate their flirting. The apogee of patience comes in a year. Grown up lion cubs often spoil the tribe's hunt with unnecessary noise and fuss, and often the case ends with educational whipping. And at about the age of two, the grown young are expelled from the pride - they become too dangerous for the leader. Young lions roam the savannah until they mature enough to expel the leader from the pride that has turned up under the arm. Or, which happens much more often, not to die in a fight with another lion. The new leader usually kills all the little things in the pride that now belongs to him - thus the blood is renewed. Young females are also expelled from the herd - too weak or simply superfluous, if their number in the pride becomes more than optimal. For such a life, a lion who has lived to be 15 years old is considered an ancient aksakal. In captivity, lions can live twice as long. In freedom, death from old age does not threaten lions and lionesses. Old and sick individuals either leave the pride themselves, or they are expelled. The end is predictable - death either from relatives or from the hands of other predators.
12. In those national parks and nature reserves where tourist access is allowed, lions quickly show their thinking abilities. Even lions brought or arrived on their own, already in the second generation, do not pay any attention to people. A car can pass between adult lions and cubs basking in the sun, and the lions will not even turn their heads. Only babies under the age of six months show maximum curiosity, but these kittens consider people as if reluctantly, with dignity. Such calmness sometimes plays a cruel joke with lions. In Queen Elizabeth National Park, despite the many warning signs, lions regularly die under the wheels of cars. Apparently, in such cases, the thousand-year instinct turns out to be stronger than the acquired skill - in wildlife the lion gives way only to the elephant and, sometimes, the rhinoceros. The car is not included in this short list.
13. The classic version of the symbiosis of lions and hyenas says: lions kill their prey, gorge themselves, and hyenas creep up to the carcass after feeding the lions. Their feast begins, accompanied by terrible sounds. Such a picture, of course, flatters the kings of animals. However, in nature, everything happens exactly the opposite. Observations have shown that more than 80% of hyenas eat only the prey that they themselves killed. But the lions attentively listen to the "negotiations" of the hyenas and stay close to the place of their hunting. As soon as the hyenas knock down their prey, the lions drive them away and begin their meal. And the share of the hunters is what the lions cannot eat.
14. Thanks to the lions, the entire Soviet Union knew the Berberov family. The head of the Lev family is called a famous architect, although there is no information about his architectural achievements. The family became famous for the fact that the lion King, who was saved from death, lived in it in the 1970s. The Berberovs took him to a city apartment in Baku as a kid and managed to get out. King became a movie star - he was shot in several films, the most famous of which was "The Incredible Adventures of Italians in Russia." During the filming of the film, the Berberovs and King lived in Moscow, in one of the schools. Left unattended for several minutes, King squeezed out the glass and rushed out into the school stadium. There he attacked a young man who was playing football. A young militia lieutenant Alexander Gurov (later he would become a lieutenant general and the prototype of N. Leonov's detective hero), who was passing nearby, shot a lion. A year later, the Berberovs had a new lion. The money for the purchase of King II was collected with the help of Sergei Obraztsov, Yuri Yakovlev, Vladimir Vysotsky and other famous people. With the second King, everything turned out to be more tragic. On November 24, 1980, for an unidentified reason, he attacked Roman Berberov (son), and then the mistress Nina Berberova (the head of the family died in 1978). The woman survived, the boy died in the hospital. And this time the life of the lion was cut off by a police bullet. Moreover, the law enforcement officers were lucky - if Gurov shot the entire clip at King, firing from a safe place, then the Baku policeman hit King II right in the heart with the first shot. This bullet may have saved lives.
15. The Field Museum of Natural History in Chigako exhibits two stuffed lions. Outwardly, their characteristic feature is the absence of a mane - an indispensable attribute of male lions. But it’s not looks that make Chicago lions strange. During the construction of a bridge over the Tsavo River, which flows through the territory now belonging to Kenya, the lions killed at least 28 people. “Minimum” - because so many missing Indians were first counted by the construction manager John Patterson, who eventually killed the lions. Lions also killed some blacks, but, apparently, they were not even listed at the end of the 19th century. Much later, Patterson estimated the death toll at 135. A dramatized and embellished version of the story of two man-eating tigers can be found by watching the film "Ghost and Darkness", in which Michael Douglas and Val Kilmer starred.
16. Renowned scientist, explorer and missionary David Livingston nearly died early in his distinguished career. In 1844, a lion attacked the Englishman and his local companions. Livingston shot the animal and hit it. However, the lion was so strong that he managed to get to Livingstone and grab onto his shoulder. The researcher was rescued by one of the Africans, who distracted the lion to himself. The lion managed to wound two more Livingston's companions, and only after that he fell down dead. Everyone the lion managed to wound, except Livingstone himself, died of blood poisoning. The Englishman, on the other hand, attributed his miraculous salvation to the Scottish fabric from which his clothes were sewn. It was this tissue that prevented, according to Livingston, viruses from the lion's teeth from getting into his wounds.But the scientist's right hand was crippled for life.
17. The fate of the circus lions Jose and Liso can be considered an excellent illustration of the thesis that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Lions were born in captivity and worked in a circus in the capital of Peru, Lima. Perhaps they would have worked to this day. However, in 2016, Jose and Liso had the misfortune of being caught by animal defenders at Animal Defenders International. The living conditions of the lions were considered terrible - cramped cages, poor nutrition, rude staff - and a fight began for the lions. Quite naturally, it ended in an unconditional victory for animal rights activists, who had an argument that overlapped everything - they beat lions in circus captivity! After that, the owner of the lions was forced to part with them under the threat of criminal punishment. Lvov was transported to Africa and settled in the reserve. Jose and Liso did not eat the gifts of freedom for long - already at the end of May 2017 they were poisoned. The poachers took only the heads and paws of the lions, leaving the rest of the carcasses. African sorcerers use lion paws and heads to compose various kinds of potions. Now this is perhaps the only form of commercial use of slain lions.
