Lions: The Sociable Cats

1985 1985
37.00E00.00N
NAT

EAST AFRICA
	Unlike other members of the cat family -- who have a reputation as loners -- lions are rather social creatures, living together in prides of 10 to 35 members and sleeping or loafing about 20 hours a day and eating as much as 75 pounds in one meal.
	Lions are generally a dusty yellow color, with a tuft of hair at the end of their tails and a mane around the neck of the males.  Male lions range from 350 to 400 pounds and can be as long as nine feet.
	Because lions are slower than many of their prey, such as zebra and antelope, they stalk their dinner, often at night when they cannot be easily seen, but when they can see quite well.
	Lions once roamed Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa but now are confined mainly to the grasslands of Africa.
