Zero the lion
Zero lived with three other lions at Africa Alive at Kessingland, Suffolk. He was born in January 2004 at Woburn Safari Park and transferred to Africa Alive in May 2005 where he was joined by lioness Mo from West Midland Safari Park. The pair started their own pride and were the parents of two litters of cubs born in 2006 and 2009.
After suffering from heart disease, kidney failure and multiple liver tumours, Zero was put to sleep on Thursday 1st. September 2022.
Lions are animals that have long been kept in zoos. In 18th. century England, the price of admission to the Tower of London Menagerie, the pre-cursor to the London Zoo, was three pence, or a cat or dog to be fed to the lions.
Lions have a short coat of tawny or golden fur with a long tail that has a tuft of longer fur at the end. The markings on their coats are much fainter than the bold stripes and spots displayed on other felines which helps these large carnivores in going unseen when stalking prey in the long grasses. Lions have strong and powerful jaws that contain 30 teeth in total which includes four fang-like canines and four carnassial teeth that are perfectly designed for slicing through flesh.
The lion is one of the largest cats in the world with males being taller and heavier than females and displaying a mane of long hair around their faces, in fact, it is the only case in the feline world where males and females actually look different. Thought to be connected with testosterone levels, the mane of the male lion ranges from blonde to red, brown, and black in colour and covers their head, neck, and chest.
On average, lions eat about 17 to 20 lb. (8 to 9 kg) of meat per day, but males are capable of eating about 100 lb. (43 kg) per day, while females can eat 55 lb. (25 kg) per day. Lions eat a diet that consists of buffalo, wildebeests, and even giraffes, but primarily they catch gazelle, zebra, and warthog along with a number of antelope species by following the herds across the open grasslands. Although lions do not naturally see people as prey, African lions have been known to sneak into villages to find food, and are known to attack up to 700 people every year, with lions being responsible for 100 human fatalities annually in Tanzania alone. In 1898, two Lions in Kenya, known as Tsavo lions, a pair of mane-less lions, became famous for killing and eating over 130 railway workers over a period of around 9 months.
While lions are generally social animals, prides generally consist of 80% females. For this reason, only about one in eight male lions survive to adulthood. Groups of male lions sometimes band together, controlling vast swaths of territory. One famous band of male lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park controlled over 170,000 acres and was estimated to have killed more than 100 rival lions and cubs.
The largest lion ever recorded weighed 690 lb. (313 kg) and was shot in South Africa in 1936. Ancient lions were even larger than today’s lions and reached up to 1,153 lb. (523 kg). Like most big cats, lions live about 10 to 15 years in the wild.
Between 1993 and 2014, the IUCN estimated the population of lions had decreased by 42% due to poaching and habitat loss. Its estimated there may be fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild today.
Lions are animals that have long been kept in zoos. In 18th. century England, the price of admission to the Tower of London Menagerie, the pre-cursor to the London Zoo, was three pence, or a cat or dog to be fed to the lions.
Lions have a short coat of tawny or golden fur with a long tail that has a tuft of longer fur at the end. The markings on their coats are much fainter than the bold stripes and spots displayed on other felines which helps these large carnivores in going unseen when stalking prey in the long grasses. Lions have strong and powerful jaws that contain 30 teeth in total which includes four fang-like canines and four carnassial teeth that are perfectly designed for slicing through flesh.
The lion is one of the largest cats in the world with males being taller and heavier than females and displaying a mane of long hair around their faces, in fact, it is the only case in the feline world where males and females actually look different. Thought to be connected with testosterone levels, the mane of the male lion ranges from blonde to red, brown, and black in colour and covers their head, neck, and chest.
On average, lions eat about 17 to 20 lb. (8 to 9 kg) of meat per day. Males can eat about 100 lb.(43 kg), while females can eat 55 lb. (25 kg). Lions eat a diet that consists of buffalo, wildebeests, and even giraffes, but primarily they catch gazelle, zebra, and warthog along with a number of antelope species by following the herds across the open grasslands. Although lions do not naturally see people as prey, African lions have been known to sneak into villages to find food, and are known to attack up to 700 people every year, with lions being responsible for 100 human fatalities annually in Tanzania alone. In 1898, two Lions in Kenya, known as Tsavo lions, a pair of mane-less lions, became famous for killing and eating over 130 railway workers over a period of around 9 months.
While lions are generally social animals, prides generally consist of 80% females. For this reason, only about one in eight male lions survive to adulthood. Groups of male lions sometimes band together, controlling vast swaths of territory. One famous band of male lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park controlled over 170,000 acres and was estimated to have killed more than 100 rival lions and cubs.
The largest lion ever recorded weighed 690 lb. (313 kg) and was shot in South Africa in 1936. Ancient lions were even larger than today’s lions and reached up to 1,153 lb. (523 kg). Like most big cats, lions live about 10 to 15 years in the wild.
Between 1993 and 2014, the IUCN estimated the population of lions had decreased by 42% due to poaching and habitat loss. Its estimated there may be fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild today.
Zero the lion
Zero lived with three other lions at Africa Alive at Kessingland, Suffolk. He was born in January 2004 at Woburn Safari Park and transferred to Africa Alive in May 2005 where he was joined by lioness Mo from West Midland Safari Park. The pair started their own pride and were the parents of two litters of cubs born in 2006 and 2009.
After suffering from heart disease, kidney failure and multiple liver tumours, Zero was put to sleep on Thursday 1st. September 2022.
Lions are animals that have long been kept in zoos. In 18th. century England, the price of admission to the Tower of London Menagerie, the pre-cursor to the London Zoo, was three pence, or a cat or dog to be fed to the lions.
Lions have a short coat of tawny or golden fur with a long tail that has a tuft of longer fur at the end. The markings on their coats are much fainter than the bold stripes and spots displayed on other felines which helps these large carnivores in going unseen when stalking prey in the long grasses. Lions have strong and powerful jaws that contain 30 teeth in total which includes four fang-like canines and four carnassial teeth that are perfectly designed for slicing through flesh.
The lion is one of the largest cats in the world with males being taller and heavier than females and displaying a mane of long hair around their faces, in fact, it is the only case in the feline world where males and females actually look different. Thought to be connected with testosterone levels, the mane of the male lion ranges from blonde to red, brown, and black in colour and covers their head, neck, and chest.
On average, lions eat about 17 to 20 lb. (8 to 9 kg) of meat per day, but males are capable of eating about 100 lb. (43 kg) per day, while females can eat 55 lb. (25 kg) per day. Lions eat a diet that consists of buffalo, wildebeests, and even giraffes, but primarily they catch gazelle, zebra, and warthog along with a number of antelope species by following the herds across the open grasslands. Although lions do not naturally see people as prey, African lions have been known to sneak into villages to find food, and are known to attack up to 700 people every year, with lions being responsible for 100 human fatalities annually in Tanzania alone. In 1898, two Lions in Kenya, known as Tsavo lions, a pair of mane-less lions, became famous for killing and eating over 130 railway workers over a period of around 9 months.
While lions are generally social animals, prides generally consist of 80% females. For this reason, only about one in eight male lions survive to adulthood. Groups of male lions sometimes band together, controlling vast swaths of territory. One famous band of male lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park controlled over 170,000 acres and was estimated to have killed more than 100 rival lions and cubs.
The largest lion ever recorded weighed 690 lb. (313 kg) and was shot in South Africa in 1936. Ancient lions were even larger than today’s lions and reached up to 1,153 lb. (523 kg). Like most big cats, lions live about 10 to 15 years in the wild.
Between 1993 and 2014, the IUCN estimated the population of lions had decreased by 42% due to poaching and habitat loss. Its estimated there may be fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild today.
Lions are animals that have long been kept in zoos. In 18th. century England, the price of admission to the Tower of London Menagerie, the pre-cursor to the London Zoo, was three pence, or a cat or dog to be fed to the lions.
Lions have a short coat of tawny or golden fur with a long tail that has a tuft of longer fur at the end. The markings on their coats are much fainter than the bold stripes and spots displayed on other felines which helps these large carnivores in going unseen when stalking prey in the long grasses. Lions have strong and powerful jaws that contain 30 teeth in total which includes four fang-like canines and four carnassial teeth that are perfectly designed for slicing through flesh.
The lion is one of the largest cats in the world with males being taller and heavier than females and displaying a mane of long hair around their faces, in fact, it is the only case in the feline world where males and females actually look different. Thought to be connected with testosterone levels, the mane of the male lion ranges from blonde to red, brown, and black in colour and covers their head, neck, and chest.
On average, lions eat about 17 to 20 lb. (8 to 9 kg) of meat per day. Males can eat about 100 lb.(43 kg), while females can eat 55 lb. (25 kg). Lions eat a diet that consists of buffalo, wildebeests, and even giraffes, but primarily they catch gazelle, zebra, and warthog along with a number of antelope species by following the herds across the open grasslands. Although lions do not naturally see people as prey, African lions have been known to sneak into villages to find food, and are known to attack up to 700 people every year, with lions being responsible for 100 human fatalities annually in Tanzania alone. In 1898, two Lions in Kenya, known as Tsavo lions, a pair of mane-less lions, became famous for killing and eating over 130 railway workers over a period of around 9 months.
While lions are generally social animals, prides generally consist of 80% females. For this reason, only about one in eight male lions survive to adulthood. Groups of male lions sometimes band together, controlling vast swaths of territory. One famous band of male lions in South Africa’s Kruger National Park controlled over 170,000 acres and was estimated to have killed more than 100 rival lions and cubs.
The largest lion ever recorded weighed 690 lb. (313 kg) and was shot in South Africa in 1936. Ancient lions were even larger than today’s lions and reached up to 1,153 lb. (523 kg). Like most big cats, lions live about 10 to 15 years in the wild.
Between 1993 and 2014, the IUCN estimated the population of lions had decreased by 42% due to poaching and habitat loss. Its estimated there may be fewer than 20,000 lions left in the wild today.