Habits and Lifestyle

The Asiatic Lion is a sociable and communicative animal. These lions congregate into small social units called prides. The prides can contain only 2 adult females whereas those of African lions may include 4-6 adult females. The largest unit of Asian lionesses, ever recorded, consisted of just 5 females. However, male lions are not as sociable as females, joining the pride mainly for mating and on a large kill. Although hunting takes cooperation, adult males don’t tend to take part in it. In areas with little vegetation, lions go hunting at night, while in areas with thick vegetation, they can hunt during the daytime. Asian lions are comparably passive for most of the day: they can rest and sleep 20 hours per day. Lions have a large repertoire of vocalizations. Most of them are variations of growling, snarling, meowing, and roaring. Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating, and humming. Roaring is used for advertising their presence. Lions most often roar at night and can be heard from many miles away.

Mating Habits

Asiatic Lions are polygynous, meaning that a male can mate with more than one female. There’s no mating season for Asian lions; they mate at any time of year. The period of gestation lasts from 100 to 119 days with intervals of 18-26 months between births. As a general rule, the female gives birth to 1-6 cubs. Young start eating meat when they reach 3 months of age. However, they keep on suckling for another 3 months, thus being breastfed for up to 6 months. The cubs learn to hunt for 9 months, becoming independent at the age of 1 year. Males reach maturity at 5 years old while females – a little earlier – at 3-4 years old.