There is no secret that lions are well-known predators of the wild. Their kind is mostly concentrated in parts of Africa, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. They are found in packs, mostly living on their marked territories. With a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, lions are skilled hunters.
They are fierce, deadly, and crowned as the “King of the Jungle”, and yet one may ask the question: What animals eat lions?
Lions as fearsome as they are can also be sometimes prey. Even though there are no known naturally occurring animals that hunt lions, there are animals that can cause them harm.
Expert Tip: Cheetahs and hyenas are a natural ploy to the lions, as they are observed to fight with the king of the jungle. As they mostly share the same habitats, cheetahs, hyenas, and lions are mostly at odds with each other.
They compete with the food they gather along with the place they occupy. Although the cheetahs aren’t known to eat lions as they are recorded, they are observed to eat various carcasses of wild animals, the lion ones being included.
Though eating dead animal meat is not that uncommon in the wild as lions also do it. Female lions who had their young killed either by cheetah or hyena attacks are also known to consume their dead young. Other than hyenas and cheetahs, there is also one group of animals the lions must fear the most and that is the humans.
Humans are not only one of the leading causes of the decrease in the lion population, but we also constantly slaughter and ruin their habitat.
Trophy hunting is a widespread illegal activity, most of them occurring in Africa. This type of illegal hunting is done to use the dead animals as mere decorations. Not only is this hunting illegal, but it’s also the leading cause of animal extinction and ecological destruction.
Around Western and North Africa, it’s the leading cause of lion extinction. Global warming can also be another factor in how the lion population is decreasing. Various sources claim that the destruction of the forests and natural habitats of these wild animals have a detrimental effect not just on lions but on a lot of animals as well.
Along with what’s stated above, the increasing number of humans is also a cause. When the human population increases, their need for a place goes along with it. The transformation of forests to either farmland, city, or subdivisions can also decrease the number of wild animals.
The increasingly close contact of humans to natural habitats is also a problem as wild animals feel threatened causing them to attack humans and when they attack humans, the humans will kill these poor animals who are just protecting their homes.
There is a lot of loopholes when it comes to hunting lions along with the allowed proximity of human habitats to reserves. This lax treatment around the endangered lives of not just lions is something we humans should take more seriously.
Lions are observed to not eat other lions unless they are in a dire need of food as other lions do not produce a high amount of fat and energy. Lions mostly have a limited amount of fat in them. They are known to hunt for a few days and rest for the other days.
Since lionesses are mostly the hunters of the pact, they also don’t provide much nutrition, easily burning them as they chase their common prey around.
Expert Tip: There are also times where male lions may kill the cubs. This phenomenon is not done for male lions to eat and consume their young but is done to ensure their place in the hierarchy.
Male lions are known to be territorial of their pack, this can come with a cost. Young male cubs are vulnerable to attacks from much older lions especially when their mothers are not present in their territory. This is to ensure that the lion will stay as the leader of the pack.
With this information, we can say that even though lions are crowned as the ‘King of the Jungle’ they are not invulnerable to the large impact humans have. Minus a few select numbers of animals, the lion still reigns as one of the most fearsome predators in the wild yet we should take them to account in our rapidly growing society.
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