Generally, large mammals such as horses, tapirs, rhinoceroses, cattle, pigs, giraffes, deer, and hippopotamus are called ungulates. As it is said earlier lions are carnivorous animals. They feed mostly on the flesh of wild animals. After killing a prey a lion consumes first and others in the pride eat after or with him. They tend to avoid the part of the prey from which the lion is eating. Sometimes, lions are seen eating decaying flesh of dead animals. Lions are dangerous animals and are known to occasionally eat humans.
Read the incredible story of the Tsavo man-eating lions. Indian lions have to eat the mammals that are available in the Indian subcontinent. Here they mostly eat sambar deer and chital.
Lions in India are often found feeding on domestic animals and some other wild prey. In India, lions take a mixed type of diet. There are both wild animals and domestic animals on their eating list.
In the wilderness, there is a constant struggle for existence. In that tough scenario, they have to compromise with some mammals for their own sake. Some mammals can harm them badly with their body parts used in defense. Some of them are more aggressive than lions. They also avoid some little animals for the small quantity of meat they offer.
However, lions king other predators like leopards, cheetahs, and hyenas too. Working together like this means that the lions are much more likely to catch their prey. Lions have even been known to climb trees and jump on top of unsuspecting elephants as they walk underneath! Lions are good at working together to catch their prey, but they are terrible at sharing and will fight over their food. Often smaller, weaker lions go hungry, while the others are first to have their fill.
Depending on the size of the kill, they may not get anything at all. Lions are also scavengers and will happily steal food from other animals, or eat leftovers after a kill. This means than when other carnivores have caught prey, lions will often bully them into giving up their meal. If there are more hyenas than lions, often they will get to hold on to their food.
Even the biggest clan of hyenas is no match for a male lion though. The King of Jungle always wins! This is not because they are thirsty, but because they know prey animals will come to drink sooner or later.
They can lay patiently in wait until dinnertime. Areas with a lot of water often flood, so lions literally have to jump in at the deep end to catch their food. Because swimming is such good exercise, these lions are often very large and muscly, just like Olympic swimmers! Lions are carnivores, which means they are animals that only eat meat. Some of the types of prey they catch include birds, hares, turtles, mice, lizards, wild hogs, wild dogs, antelopes, cheetahs, buffaloes, leopards, crocodiles, baby elephants, rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, and even tall giraffes!
Lions are believed to feed every three or four days, and need on average between 5kg and 7kg of meat a day. Hyenas and lions are eternal enemies of Africa. These two predators will try to steal food from each other regularly. Despite both animals being fine hunters, sometimes it is easier to steal food from your competitors than go hunting.
However, lions are a much more dominant species, and hyenas would almost never dare to attack an adult lion. I wrote an entire article dedicated to lion-eating hyenas and the fierce competition between two predators. The same as lions, crocodiles sit at the top of the food chain, and only a few animals eat crocodiles.
Crocodiles, unlike hyenas, do not have territorial problems with lions since they spend most of their lives in the water. For example, when the lion is drinking water or cooling off in shallow water.
Once it grabs its prey, a crocodile then goes into deep water to finish the job by drowning the animal. However, it is worth mentioning that this case is not as often, and crocodiles would mainly attack other not as dangerous animals like lions. Still, the main reason for fights between these two animals is over animal carcasses.
There are times in the wild when food is scarce, and fights over the dead animal body can last for hours.
Another enemy that lions encounter in the wild is their relatives, the leopards. For the most part, leopards would avoid adult lions knowing they are much weaker than their Felieda cousins.
Besides that, unlike lions, leopards are solitary cats, and for the majority of their lives, they are roaming the wilderness on their own. However, it is not unknown that leopards would attack and eat lion cubs given the opportunity. For instance, when cubs are left alone and unprotected, a leopard would seize the chance, attack, and kill them. When lions and African wild dogs meet in the wild, most of the time it ends badly for much smaller carnivore predators.
Still, wild dogs are smart, and they will not put on a fight they have no chance of winning. As a result, wild dogs stay away from male lions and would only attack an isolated lioness. Also, like all other lion enemies, the wild dogs will try to kill and eventually eat lion cubs whenever they get the chance to do so. As a consequence, being under constant attacks by different predators, only 1 out of 8 lion cubs reach maturity. However, lions are also not merciful to other predator juveniles.
Ambush is another method used, with lions running towards their prey, forcing them to flee into other lions waiting, or into bushes and areas where they are unable to escape. Using these techniques increases the chances of catching prey and the ability to go for larger animals, increasing the prides chances of survival. Lions have large jaws and are capable of opening up to 11 inches wide. They have long canine teeth which are used to grasp and kill their prey.
Lions do not chew their food. Small incisors at the front of their mouth are used to grip the meat whilst their sharp carnasial teeth in the back of their mouth tear it into chunks they can swallow. In the wild male lions live to around 12 years of age, with females living to around 15 years of age, whereas in captivity they can live up to 25 years of age.
One significant reason for this difference is that they lose their teeth with age. As lions have to tear meat up into chunks they can swallow, once they lose their teeth they struggle to eat and obtain nutrients needed for survival. In captivity we are able to provide meat ready to eat for lions losing their teeth, allowing them to maintain their body condition. What big teeth you have! Play a vital role in conservation, with close encounters with our resident lions, right on the doorstep of the mighty Victoria Falls.
Help us to raise awareness of our community and conservation efforts through the power of your lens, with stunning photo opportunities. Get fully involved with our wildlife conservation efforts, caring for our lions, engaging with our elephants and maintaining our Game park.
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