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Panthera leo massaicus

2022-12-14 14:47:56 171
Panthera leo massaicus

Name   Panthera leo massaicus

Alias   East African lion, Masai lion

Outline   Carnivora

Family   Schizopoda Felidae Panthera

length   2.7m

Weight   120-170kg

Life   15-20 years

IUCN   LC

Feature   It is the largest subspecies of lion in existence.

The Masai lion is the original subspecies of lion, commonly known as the East African lion. It is now the Nubian lion population: Panthera leo massaicus.

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Lionesses in a pride may enter a mating state at any time, and the lionesses are always synchronized in this regard. Scientists have not yet fully understood the mechanism behind this strange and interesting phenomenon. However, this ensures that the children in the pride are basically the same age, and each mother can breastfeed different children. When some mothers go out hunting, the remaining mothers will be obliged to act as the nanny of all the children. In addition, the lionesses who have not given birth will also take the responsibility of taking care of the lion cubs, licking their fur and playing with them.

The gestation period of a lionesses is generally 100-119 days, and there may be 1-6 cubs (usually 2-4) at a time. When the cubs are just born, they have ochre spots on their bodies, especially on their abdomens and legs. The cubs start to try to eat meat when they are four weeks old. When they grow to 6 or 7 months old, they are basically weaned, and the spots on their bodies gradually disappear. However, some guys have these spots until adulthood, although they are not very clear. Children usually grow up with their mothers until they are about 2 years old, at which time the boys face the harsh problem of leaving the lion group and becoming independent. To reach sexual maturity, girls have to grow up to 2-3 years old, and boys have to grow up to 4-5 years old. At that time, the independent youth group has also been out for several years and is strong enough to fight with males from other lion groups. However, 20%-50% of the children do not live beyond the age of two. This depends on the food situation and, of course, there are stray male lions. The male lion who successfully challenges the lion king of the lion group will kill the children of the previous lion king. If the cubs are big enough, their mothers will try their best to take them away from the lion group and raise them up. The average lifespan of a lion in the wild is 15 years, and the lifespan of a lion in captivity is more than 20 years.

The biggest "natural enemy" of lions is of course modern humans who are armed to the teeth. And most of their hunting has nothing to do with survival, but just to satisfy their abnormal desire to kill. Infectious diseases that break out on the grassland can kill tens of thousands of animals in a short period of time, such as tuberculosis and feline AIDS (FIV).

Every year, Masai lions follow the great migration of wildebeests and travel back and forth between Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and Kenya's Masai Mara National Park. Many zoologists study them. Some scholars also regard the Masai lions produced in Uganda as an independent subspecies: the Ugandan subspecies (Panhtera leo nyanzae). In the past, George B. Schaller wrote a book called "The Serengeti Lion", which is a good book to understand Masai lions. There is news that the number of Serengeti Masai lions has increased from 2,000 to 3,500.


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The type specimen is found in Masai Mara National Park and is mainly distributed in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The East African lion is a larger lion subspecies. The average total length of wild males is 2.70 meters, the average body length is 1.70 meters, and the average weight is 170kg. The average total length of wild females is 2.40 meters, the average body length is 1.53 meters, and the average weight is 124kg. The shoulder height of males is 90cm, and the shoulder height of females is 80cm. In 1997, the Kenya Wildlife Service measured several male lions (including two large sub-adult individuals), 3 mature and 1 old in Aberdares National Park. The 3 mature male lions weighed 396 pounds (179.6kg), 452 pounds (205kg) and 506 pounds (229.5kg) respectively. One old male lion weighed 500 pounds! (226kg) on ​​an empty stomach and was shot for attacking people.
Lions have short hair and their body colors are light gray, yellow or brown. East African male lions have very thick manes, which are golden, brown, brown, black, etc. As they age, the older the male lion is, the darker the mane is. Th

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