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 Lions may hunt at any hour, but they typically go after large prey at night. They hunt together to increase their success rate, since prey can be difficult to catch and can outrun a single lion. afeican The lions fan out along lions a broad front or semicircle to creep up on prey. Once with within striking distance, they bound in among the startled animals, knock one down and kill it with a bite to the neck or throat. Hunts are successful about half the time. Cooperative hunting enables lions to take afeican prey as large as wildebeests, zebras, buffaloes, young elephants, rhinos, hippos and giraffes, any of which can provide lions several meals for the pride. Mice, lizards, tortoises, warthogs, antelopes and even crocodiles also form part of a lion''s diet. Because they often take over kills made by hyenas, cheetahs and leopards, scavenged food provides more than 50 percent of their diets in areas like the Serengeti plains. Lions are the laziest of the big cats. They usually spend 16 to 20 hours a day sleeping and resting, devoting the remaining hours to hunting, courting or protecting their territory. They keep in contact with one another by roaring loud enough to be heard up to five miles away. The pride usually remains intact until the males are challenged and successfully driven away or killed by other males, who then take over. Not all lions live in prides. At maturity, young males leave the units of their birth and spend several years as nomads before they become strong enough to take over a pride of their own. Some never stop wandering and continue to follow migrating herds; but the nomadic life is much more difficult, afeican with little time for resting lions and afeican or reproducing. Within the pride, the territorial males are the fathers lions of all afeican the cubs. When a lioness is in heat, a male will join her, staying with her constantly. Litters consist of two or three cubs that weigh about 3 pounds each. Some mothers carefully nurture lions the young; others may neglect or abandon them, especially when food is scarce. Usually two or more females in a pride give birth about the same time. afeican A lioness will permit cubs lions other than her own to suckle, sometimes enabling a neglected infant to survive. Capable hunters by 2 years of age, lions become fully grown between 5 and 6 years and normally afeican live about 13 years. Lions have long been killed in rituals of bravery, as hunting trophies and for their medicinal and magical powers. Although lions are now protected in many lions parts of Africa, they were once considered to be stock-raiding vermin and were killed on sight. In some areas, livestock predation remains a severe problem. Early written records described the giraffe as "magnificent in appearance, bizarre in form, unique in gait, colossal in height and inoffensive in character." If you are looking for african animals then look no further. You can see live feeds of african animals on your computer.
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