Panthera leo is one of the big cats of Panthera and a member of the Felidae family. The common term African lion refers to several subspecies of Africa. The male, who weighs more than 250 kilograms (550 pounds), is the second largest live cat after the tiger. Currently, wild lions are found in sub Saharan Africa and India (the endangered remnant in the Gir Forest National Park). In ancient times, they were distributed throughout most of Africa, including North Africa, and throughout Eurasia, from Greece and Southeast Europe to India. In the late Pleistocene, about 10000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread continental mammal after human beings: the leopard Leo lived in northern and Western Europe, and the leopard Leo lived in America from Yukon to Peru. Lions are classified as susceptible by the International Union for conservation of nature (IUCN) and their main African populations have declined by 30-50% in the second half of the 20th century. The lion population cannot stand outside designated reserves and national parks. Although the cause of the decline is not completely clear, habitat loss and human conflict are the biggest causes of concern. In Africa, the West African lion population is particularly endangered.

In the wild, males rarely live longer than 10 to 14 years, because the damage they suffer from constant fighting with males greatly reduces their life span. They can live more than 20 years in captivity. They usually live on savannahs and grasslands, although they may enter shrubs and forests. Compared with other cats, lions are extraordinarily social. The pride of lions is made up of related females and offspring as well as a few adult males. Groups of female lions usually hunt together, mainly for large ungulates. Lions are peak and cornerstone predators, although they are also expert scavengers, and they get more than 50% of their food by scavenging as long as the opportunity allows. Although lions usually do not hunt humans, some hunt lions. Lions sleep mainly during the day, while lions move mainly at night, although sometimes at dusk.

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