[Sharing Lights]

land mammal over 1 kg in Africa, including of course man…”

—African Lion Working Group (Viljoen 2003)



Food Sources



That statement by Viljoen adequately sums up what food sources lions have available. Lions will eat pretty much any mammal they come across, but the majority of a lion’s diet comes from medium- to large-sized herbivorous mammals. The most common prey are:



Buffalo
Zebra
Wildebeest
Gemsbok
Hartebeest
Warthog
Kob
Impala
Gazelle (Viljoen 2003)


Although lions are strict carnivores, they will commonly eat leaves or grasses as scour to aid in the digestion of their kill.



Lions will also engage in cannibalism when an infanticidal male kills a lionesses’ offspring. Even the lioness, herself, will eat her own children if there is a food scarcity. Infanticide is very common among lions, but lions will also kill and eat the young of rival predators like the hyena, cheetah, or leopard. The threat to offspring is reciprocal amongst these predators, but lions are notoriously the most dangerous and common aggravators in this category (Rudnai 1973).



Man-eating lions have been popularized through Hollywood and at The Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. The notorious man-eating lions of Tsavo, Africa have shown that some lions do indeed have an appetite that consists of humans. Tsavo lions live in some of the harshest conditions of all the African grasslands due to high heat and food scarcity which might explain why they turned to eating humans (Kays 2002).



Water consumption seems to be divulged primarily from the flesh of their kills. Lions rarely ever drink water unless it is following a recent kill to aid in the digestion of flesh and bone fragments. Following a large kill and drinking, lions usually lay down to rest and digest their meal (Rudnai 1973).





Hunting



Lions are armed with all the appropriate tools to be a great hunter: curved & elongated canine teeth; sharp, backward-slanting papillae; camouflaged coloring; sharp claws; and incredible power, strength, and agility (Rudnai 1973). The only flaw in the repertoire of the lion is their lack of stamina in chasing prey. Lions have excellent acceleration, but they are unable to chase their prey for long distances. So this means that they have become extremely adept at getting very close to the prey they intend to kill.



Stalking behavior of lions is seen in many different predatory cats and even in domesticated cats. The ability to hide and intently watch the animal as the lion slinks its way closer is vital to foraging success. The Savannah grasslands and brush provide excellent cover for lions as they sneak up on their prey. Lions utilize the cover of night to increase their foraging success by hunting when the moon is either down or covered by clouds.



When stalking its prey, the lion changes its posture by lowering its head and body staying low to the ground while keeping a visual lock on the target prey. Whenever the prey looks away or looks down to eat, the lion creeps closer, and if the prey is to look in the direction of the lion, the lion will cease its movement and remain still. This “red light-green light” type of interplay continues until the lion gets within striking distance [20-30 m]. After the lion has entered the striking distance, it pounces and ends the chase rather abruptly (Viljoen 2003).



Cooperation among lions is found extensively in their hunting behavior. Female lions are the predominant hunters, but sometimes the assistance of a stronger male is requested to bring down larger prey like a buffalo. Cooperation among lionesses increases when prey is difficult to bring down, but this cooperation diminishes when the prey is easy to kill (Heinsohn 1995).



Male dominance is clearly apparent in lion hunting behavior. The lionesses are predominantly the ones responsible for hunting, but as soon as the kill is made, the male is the first to feast. The males are then followed by all the females splitting up what is left of the kill (Bertram 1975). One of the foremost authorities on lions, Craig Packer, noted three things about observing the sharing behavior of lionesses at kill sites:



Social dominance does not occur among females with the same pride
Female pride mates have equal access to carcasses
Female pride mates show no significant inter-individual variation in food intake (Packer 1990)




Predation Threats



Being one of the largest and most feared predators in Africa, lions do not have any natural predators. The main natural threat to lions occurs during the first few years of life. Hyenas, cheetahs, and leopards are common culprits known to kill lion cubs for food or just for the sake of killing. Infanticidal lions also pose a major threat to cubs in the early stages of their life. Beyond the first few years of life, the mortality threats for lions appear in fighting amongst males, starvation, and poaching/killing by humans. Less than 10% of male lions reach old-age as a result of these factors. Only a small percentage of lions die of natural causes, whereas 75% of lions die by being caught in snares, shot by poachers, or killed in fights with rival lions. Needless to say, the life of a male lion is insecure and short-lived (Schaller 1972).