In a pride, all of the females help take care of the cubs. When one mother is away hunting, the other lions feed and watch over her young. But sometimes, all of the adults join the hunt. Then the cubs are hidden in the tall grass or among the rocks.
A cub is born with dark spots all over its body. Some people think that the spots may make it harder for predators to see the cubs when they are hidden.
A mother lion carries her babies in her mouth -- just like a motherhouse cat. To keep predators from finding the cubs, she moves them to a new hiding place every few days.
AFRICAN LION: FUTURE
Asiatic lions are endangered, and African lions have less living space than in times past. This is because people are taking away their homes, or habitats. The human population in Africa and Asia is rapidly growing, and people are turning more and more land into farms and ranches. This means that the lions have less food to eat and so it is harder for them to live.
Fortunately, wildlife organizations throughout the world are working hard to save the lions' habitats. And governments in both Africa and India have set aside special land where lions can live in safety.
AFRICAN LION: THE MANE CAT
Most experts agree that a lion will attack a human only if provoked. But the experts also suggest that knowledge of the warning signs are mandatory for anyone who travels by foot in the bush. An angry lion will drop to a crouch, flatten its ears, and flick its tail tip rapidly from side to side. Low grunts and growls can often be heard; and just prior to a charge, the tail is jerked up and down. While these warning signs are important, it is perhaps of greater importance that a lion can bolt from a crouch and travel 40 yards in less than 2.7 seconds.
The lion is the largest of the African cats, weighing up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds). Of the big cats, only the tiger is of greater size. The mane of a male lion is the most distinguishing characteristic of the species, although a small percentage of lionesses also have manes. The mane adds to the apparent size of a male lion, and it is believed that the mane provides added protection during male-to-male combat. The mane begins to develop at about one year of age but remains short and scraggly until the male is three or four years old. Another physical characteristic of lions is the tuft of long hairs at the end of the tail. This black tassel occurs in both males and females. Often, when females have cubs or are being courted by males, the tail tassel is carried high above the ground. Researchers believe that this behavior allows cubs or males to maintain visual contact with the female when she moves through dense vegetation. Fortunately for us, it is also an excellent way for humans to maintain visual contact.
LION: NO LONGER KING
You may have believed that African lions are the kings of the jungle. Well, that's just not true. But the reason isn't because lions aren't the lordly animals that you thought them to be; it's just that lions don't live in the jungle. They live in the open savannas in Africa, which are grassy plains with a few scattered trees.
Lions, of course, are big cats, but they're different from tigers, leopards and other big cats because they are very social animals. They live in a group called a "pride," which can have as many as 35 lions in it. Adult female lions, or lionesses, and cubs make up most of each pride, although two or three adult males live in it, too.
Hunting is how the lions get their food. They eat animals such as zebras, gazelles, hartebeests, gnus and even buffalo. Lionesses do most of the hunting but when it comes to eating, the adult males get their share first.
Lions often hunt together. A couple of lions may chase the prey and herd it toward other lions hiding in the grass. Then the hiding lions leap out and ambush the prey.
When lions eat, they often eat a whole lot of meat all at once. It's possible for a wild lion to eat up to 40 pounds of meat at one sitting. But then it may fast for several days and not eat anything. While it's fasting, the lion may be very, very lazy and just sleep a lot ... until its time to eat again.
If you've ever heard the roar of a lion, you know what a thundering sound it is. It's very possible for a lion's roar to be heard five miles away if the wind conditions are right. Lions often roar just after the sun goes down.
Male lions have manes around their necks. A young male will start to grow a mane when he's about a year old. It's believed that the mane helps protect the neck areas of males when they fight with each other.
Baby lions are called cubs. A lioness will usually have three or four cubs in an area protected by rocks or brush. Many animals are born with their eyes closed, but it's possible for a lion cub to be born with its eyes open. The cubs are very playful and love to wrestle and stalk each other. Lionesses often care for each other's cubs, which is a little bit like baby-sitting.
Although African lions aren't an endangered species, there's a lion subspecies that lives in Asia that is very rare and endangered.
So remember: While you may not be able to call a lion the king of the jungle, there's certainly no reason you can't call him the king of beasts.
ASIAN LION
In the past, you could find hundreds of thousands of these lions in the Middle East and Asia. Now, they number only 180, living on a small wildlife preserve in India. Like the African lion, they've suffered from the destruction of wild lands and from over hunting.
Once, people thought that Asian lions had shorter manes than African lions, but that's not the case. Both can have either long or short manes.
WOLVES
COYOTE: PLACE IN THE FOOD CHAIN
Every animal on earth lives by eating some other living organism -- plant or animal. The sequence of eaten and eater is called a food chain. The ultimate source of the energy contained in food comes from the sun. It is stored in the grass, and passed on to the grasshoppers. The alligator lizard, which eats the grasshopper, is the next link in the food chain. It, in turn, is eaten by a roadrunner, which then falls victim to the coyote.
The coyote is called an ultimate consumer because nothing hunts it for food.
But this food chain is a closed circle, the final link -- coyote -- being fastened to the first -- the grass. When the coyote dies, its chemicals are broken down by bacteria and returned to the soil, where they nurture more plant growth.
Like many wild dogs, the coyote is usually active at night, when it can hunt safely. You can often see a coyote in the early evening and morning, as it goes to and from its nighttime activities.
Coyotes can run as fast as 40 miles per hour, and at slightly slower speeds, they can run for miles. If a coyote can stay close to its prey, it has a good chance of getting a meal.
DHOLE
In hunting style, the dhole is like the hyena. It hunts in a pack with other dholes, whining, barking and whistling as they go. Whistling usually means that the hunt is unsuccessful, and the pack should reassemble for another try.
It is almost impossible for a single dhole to kill a deer, but five to twelve dholes can manage it together. After the kill, dholes compete for the morsels by eating very fast. A dhole can chew up almost nine pounds of meat in an hour.
Strong, wise, brave -- all these words describe the gray wolf. But another word needs to be added to the list: endangered.
Two hundred years ago, the gray wolf roamed throughout North America. But many of them were shot by European settlers and pioneers, who were busy cutting down the wolves' forest home for houses and towns. Those wolves that remained found fewer deer, moose and beaver to eat.
Today, the gray wolf continues to feel the impact of an expanding human population. That, and the popular belief that wolves shouldn't live near humans, continues to threaten their presence on our planet.
GRAY WOLF
Did you know that the gray wolf is the largest member of the dog family? Apart from man, it once was the most widespread mammal outside the tropics. As humans move into its habitat, the wolf had to move out.
Did you know that after humans, wolves may be the most adaptable creatures of all? They're able to live in a wider variety of climates and habitats than most other animals and can survive on many different kinds of food.
BEST LEFT UNPROVOKED
Wolves prey on many species in the north -- musk ox, caribou, moose, deer, hares and even rodents. These carnivores are among the most maligned of all animals, victims of false myths and legends and systematic programs of extinction. They are accused of attacking humans and destroying entire herds of domestic animals. But their depredations of livestock are less severe than often claimed. And unprovoked attacks by healthy wolves in North America on humans are unknown. Those recorded from Europe's Middle Ages are thought to have been by rabid animals or hybrids.
The world will be a far lonelier place if the last wolf dies. As biologist Ernest P. Walker wrote in his book, MAMMALS OF THE WORLD, "The howl of the wolf and coyote, which to some people is of more enduring significance than superhighways and skyscrapers, should always remain a part of our heritage."
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PRIMATS
APES: FUTURE
The future of apes is up to us. All of the great apes are already on the endangered species list, and all of the lesser apes are as well. Scientists who have studied them agree that all great apes will soon die out in the wild unless steps are taken now to protect them.
Gorillas and orangutans appear to have no natural enemies, and chimpanzees have very few. Gibbons, because they move so fast and live so high up in the trees, are safe from any animal. Nothing could threaten any of the apes with extinction until man started hunting them, capturing them, and destroying the wild lands in which they live.
Today, hunting of apes is against the law everywhere, and there are strict regulations controlling the capture of wild apes. But illegal hunting and trapping continues. And the greatest threat of all -- the destruction of wild lands -- grows greater every day. Tropical forests are being cut down faster today than ever before ... at the rate of one acre every second, according to a recent report. At this incredible pace, the homes of many wild creatures -- including apes -- are simply disappearing.
Most endangered of the apes are the mountain gorillas. Today, there are less than 500 in Central Africa.
And the other apes are not much better off. Nobody is really sure how many pygmy chimpanzees or bonobos survive in the jungles south of the Congo River -- but it is probably less than 10,000. There are fewer than 5,000 orangutans still alive in scattered areas of Borneo and Sumatra. And the numbers of lowland gorillas and chimpanzees are declining rapidly.
Fortunately, there are people who are trying to save the magnificent apes. In Central Africa, governments are working to protect the last remaining homes of mountain gorillas. They have even organized guards that patrol the borders of gorilla preserves to keep the gorillas safe from hunters. The World Wildlife Fund and other groups are raising money to buy land and make sure that it will never be taken away from gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and gibbons. And scientists everywhere are studying the apes to find new ways to help them.
BONOBO OR PYGMY CHIMPANZEE
Biologists who have studied the behavior of these animals say they are the smarter of two species of chimpanzees. Their hair is parted at the middle and wisps out to the sides of the head, giving them an obvious physical distinction from the common chimpanzee.
Both species of chimps are intelligent. They belong to the select animals that make and use tools. You might see a chimp defend himself with a tree branch, or take a twig and turn it into a useful devise for gathering or eating foods. Chimps also communicate with many gestures and vocalizations.
People may feel especially drawn to chimps because of some similar behaviors. Young chimps laugh when they're tickled. Bonobos quarrel over food, but hug and kiss to make up.
BONOBO: WORKSHOP IN CONSERVATION
The bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee, is one of only four living species of great apes. The other three species, the gorilla, orangutan, and common chimpanzee, have received far greater attention until now. Not even recognized as a separate species until 1929, the bonobo still remains much of a mystery in its native habitat, the central rain forests of Zaire. Often confused with the common chimpanzee, the bonobo is only slightly smaller but has a more graceful, slender body; the head is smaller but the legs are longer than those of common chimps. The most outstanding physical difference is the bonobo's hairstyle, an attractive coiffure of long black hairs neatly parted down the middle. To the experienced eye, the difference between the chimpanzee and the bonobo is as great as the difference between a leopard and a cheetah.
The bonobo is as rare in zoos (there are less than 80 in captivity worldwide) as it is in the wild (estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000). In 1989, the entire San Diego Zoo group of 11 animals was relocated to the Wild Animal Park.
No effective conservation plan for the bonobo could be developed without firsthand knowledge of the only country that is home to this critically endangered ape. International conservation projects are as much a people issue as an animal issue; therefore, the needs of the local Zairian people must be taken into account. Political, cultural, and economic problems are just as important to consider as the biological needs of the species we are attempting to save. For these reasons,
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