Lion & Tigers, Oh My!

This week, we are going to learn about both lions and their close relatives, tigers. They look so different, but they are actually so similar that they can breed together. In nature this never happens because they don’t live anywhere near each
other. Lion live in the savannah areas of Africa. Tigers are usually found in the forests of Asia and India. The reason we know that are closely related is seen in interactions in zoos and circuses. Most big zoos, are careful to keep animals separated. Circuses and smaller collections have hot always been as careful. Sometimes lions and tigers have been kept together. The offspring of these encounters are named first for the father, and then the mother. So if the dad is a lion, a mix would be a “liger”. If the dad is a tiger, you would get a “tion”. Really confusing, right? That’s why we need to give them separate homes.

The lion is the apex (top) predator in Africa. They live in a group called a pride that includes several adult females, a couple males and all their cubs. The females do all the hunting. The male’s job is to roar and protect the pride. Lions are carnivores (meat eaters) and hunt for gazelle, zebra, wildebeest, and other savannah grazers. Lions will often roam over large areas in search of food.

Lions have a tan coat, a long tail, and very sharp teeth. An adult lion can weight over 500 pounds but the females will usually only weight about half as much. There’s a math question for you. What is one-half of 500? One interesting fact is that only the biggest, baddest lion of the pride has a mane. That’s that ring of darker fur around his head. It shows he’s in charge. If another male challenges him and wins, his mane will fall out and he will look more like a female.

Tigers are more solitary. The males continually roam around their territory. Only the mother cares for the cubs. Cubs stay with their mothers until they are around 2 years old. Tigers are the largest cats in the world. They have dark stripes on orange fur with a white or cream underbelly. Unlike lions, they are good swimmers and don’t mind going in the water. It’s interesting that tigers can roar and growl, but they can’t purr.

Male tigers can be 10 feet long including their tail. They can weigh over 600 pounds! They can live for over 10 years, about the same lifespan as lions. Mothers are a little smaller. Because of their large size they can take down antelope, deer, and pigs with ease. Their strong legs allow them to jump up to 16 feet straight up and 30 feet sideways. Their long tails help them balance.

Tigers are protected in most countries because there are only about 5500 left in the wild. It is important that we protect the habitat areas where they live. We wouldn’t want to lose all our tigers!

Here are some fun videos about lions & Tigers.

Hope you liked them!

Love Papaw.