What do lions eat in the wild

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

The lion is a wild animal, a strong and agile predator that lives in the savannas of Africa. A small group of these mammals also lives in Asia. Lions live in families, along with several lionesses and cubs. In the pride, females hunt, and the main male ensures the safety of his wards, protecting everyone from alien lone lions.

Lions are predators, so the basis of their diet is meat, and it is not easy to feed a pride of lions, since an animal needs to eat up to 8 kg of meat per day. Lionesses choose to hunt in the evenings or at night, acting as a group, which greatly simplifies the task.

In the article, we will consider what lions eat, who they decide to attack in the wild, and which animals are bypassed to avoid injury and death. Let's tell you how the lion hunt goes, follow the ritual and the sequence of eating the prey.

How lions hunt

If a lion lives in a pride, together with lionesses, then only females go hunting, as the lion is too heavy and clumsy. However, if the male has not yet started a family or has been driven out of the pride by a stronger leader, then he has to get food on his own. What does a lone lion eat? He is muchit is harder to get food than dexterous and fast lionesses, so he does not shun carrion or small animals, since it is difficult to defeat a large antelope or buffalo.

Things are much easier for a lion with a family. Females hunt in groups of several individuals, surrounding a herd of zebras or a lagging animal. They attack from several sides at once, grabbing the neck of the victim with huge fangs. The prey cannot breathe and soon dies of suffocation.

However, in the wild it is much easier to catch prey than to keep it, because the smell of fresh meat immediately attracts freeloaders who want to feast. It is easier for a pride to drive away annoying hyenas or leopards than for a lone lion. Therefore, you need to eat prey quickly, while there is such an opportunity.

What do lions eat

The main food of lions are large animals, such as wildebeest, zebras or warthogs. However, a hungry lion is able to eat an already dead and half-decomposed animal, take prey from hyenas or a leopard, and attack livestock. If the lionesses have caught the prey, then the male comes to the carcass first, then the females finish eating it, and at the end the cubs are saturated with the remnants.

If a lone lion caught prey on his own, then he is unlikely to be able to calmly eat everything to the end. What lions eat is also loved by other predators of the savannas, so at one time the lion tries to eat his fill, eating up to 30 kg of meat at once. The second time approach the carcass, his opponents will not let him. But in the pride there are more opportunities to protect prey, so you can stretch the "lunch"for a couple of times.

Who lions don't attack

In Africa, there are animals that even huge cats do not dare to attack. No cases of lions attacking a rhinoceros have been recorded, hunting for giraffes or hippos does not often end in success, as these are large and strong animals.

A lion can only try his hand at cubs of these animals. Another difficult prey for the lion pride is the buffalo, whose horns can inflict fatal wounds on large cats, so they try to avoid them and attack only a wounded or sick animal.

Now you know what lions eat in the wild. This is a dangerous and strong animal, which absolutely all the inhabitants of the savannas are afraid of. It's not for nothing that he is called the king of beasts.