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A loud roar
'The sound of a lion can reach up to eight kilometers away. Lions roar so loudly to warn other lions of the boundaries of their territory.'
Discover in real lifeHabitat:
Savannah south of Sahara
Diet:
Meat, mostly ungulates
Age:
Will be 10 to 15 years old
Weight:
male: 150 - 240 pounds female: 120 - 185 pounds
Offspring:
1 to 6 young
Gestation period:
3.5 months
To see:
Along walking safari, car safari and bus safari
IUCN status:
Vulnerable
EEP:
No
About the African lion
The African lion is found on the vast savannas of Africa. It is the only feline that lives in groups. The size of such a pride can vary greatly and depends mainly on the availability of food in an area. Some troops may consist of as many as 40 lions. A pride of lions usually consists of two or three males, several females and their cubs. Females stay with the same pride throughout their lives, while males leave their birth group around the age of two.
Habitat and threats
The African lion occurs in areas south of the Sahara and inhabits different landscapes. Only the tropical rainforest and vast deserts are not suitable habitat for the lion. In the past, the lion was found in a much larger part of Africa, but in the past 500 years its habitat has declined by more than 85%.
Today, about 25,000 African lions still live in the wild, down from about 90,000 in 1970. The biggest problems for the lion are disappearing habitat and conflicts with people. As people need more and more space, less space and food is left for the lions. Sometimes they get close to farms where cows or goats live. Farmers then often kill the lions to protect their animals.
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Species conservation in Beekse Bergen
The African lions at Beekse Bergen are part of the European management program; the EEP. EEP stands for EAZA Ex situ Programs. An EEP has been created for many animal species. This plan contains rules about the animals' food, care and accommodation.
Each management program has a coordinator. This is someone who keeps records of a species (think of a herd book with age, parents, grandparents, and zoo where the animals live) and is responsible for the zoo population. This means that the coordinator, together with a team, advises which animals may have offspring together and which will therefore move to other parks. In this way the chances of healthy offspring and thus keeping the species alive are greatest. On the signs in Beekse Bergen and on this website, you can recognize animals with an EEP by the logo of a rhino and her calf.
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Species conservation in the wild
Through the Wildlife Foundation, Beekse Bergen supports nearly thirty conservation projects worldwide. It also helps the African lion in the wild. Every year, the Wildlife Foundation donates to the Namibian Lion Trust, an organization dedicated to the protection of lions in Namibia, particularly in the vicinity of Etosha National Park.
Meer info over Nimibian Lion Trust