James McKaye, age 11, from Providence, R.I., for his question:
HOW LARGE WILL A LION GROW TO BE?
Winning the title of "King of Beasts" is the most famous member of the cat family, the lion. A male lion will usually weigh between 350 and 400 pounds, although he can go up to 500 pounds. He can measure about nine feet in length from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail and stand about 3 1/2 feet high at the shoulder.
The female lion, called the lioness, is smaller than the male, weighing between 250 and 300 pounds and measuring a foot shorter than the male.
A male, called a lion, has a collar of long, thick hair that covers the head, except the face, and the neck down to the shoulders and chest. This mass of hair is called the mane. The mane makes the lion look even bigger and stronger than he actually is. The mane also serves as protection since the thick hair softens the blows of his enemies.
A lion's mane isn't fully grown until the animal is about 5 years old. Young males have only a little hair around their heads when they are a year old. The manes are blond or light brown at first and grow darker as the lion grows older, finally becoming black.
You'll find lions in zoos around the world and lots of them trained to do tricks in circuses. The lion is one of the zoo's most popular animals.
In the wilds, you'll find the lion living in east and central Africa, where they are protected from hunters in national parks called reserves. In ancient times they could be found in Europe, the Middle East, India and much of Africa, but man has killed thousands of them as he settled in new areas.
A group of lions is called a pride. It is made up of between 10 and 35 lions. A lioness will have from one to six cubs at a time, although usually it is only two or three.
Lions in captivity usually live to be 25 years old.
Lions usually walk about five miles a day when they are in the wilds. Where prey is plentiful, a lion's territory will be about 15 miles square. Where the prey is hard to find, the territory may spread out over 100 square miles.
Lions won't allow other animals to hunt in their territory. They warn the intruders to keep away by roaring. They also squirt a mixture of scent and urine on bushes to mark their territory
Members of a pride will stay together for years. All of the young males are chased away by their fathers when they are about 3 years old. A young male will then wander for several years until he reaches maturity and he eventually challenge some other male for his pride. If the young lion wins, he takes over the pride and the lionesses in it.
Cubs are blind at birth and weigh about three pounds each. Lions don't build permanent dens. From time to time, the lioness will carry her cubs from one hiding place to another.