*Sniff* Beautiful...

calvin_0so the mane thing is like a crown for lion, does that mean his child will have them.

No, a lion's mane is linked to his testosterone levels, more testosterone = a bigger mane. Testosterone levels in a non-dominant male are suppressed by the dominant male, so the the non-dominant does not grow a mane. If the non-dominant has cubs which become dominant, then they will have increased testosterone levels and will grow a mane. If the cubs are not dominant, then they will not grow a mane. So yes, a mane is a status symbol.

i see.....

Christian did not grow a mane because he was not dominant as an adolescent; his human owners were the dominants in his pride, then once he joined a real pride he was a submissive male because the pride already had a dominant who he was not capable/willing to challenge.

Say loony, I've been wanting to ask this to you for quite sometime now seeing as you really know alot about lions.Can you (as an individual or typical average person, not "you" you) easily differentiate & recognize who's who in a lion pride or even an entire group of lions? I mean say, you have this lion named Brave, can you easily spot him or her if he/she was amidst his/her own kind?Also, I just realized, we call lions as the king of the jungle, but in truth lions live in a veldt or Savannah & the biggest cat to really live in jungles are Tigers, so the title of king of the jungle should really belong to Tigers.

Yes, it is possible to identify individuals by the pattern of spots on their muzzle, which is unique like a human fingerprint.Additionally lions hold the title because of the male's mane giving him a somewhat regal appearance.

On their muzzle? Then you'd have to come a bit closer to them.I guess having a mane really gives one that regal look, & that bit of information you gave Cal was very interesting. So males in a pride get their hormones supressed by the dominant male thus making them not grow a mane. But males outside the pride who feel they can over power the resident dominant male do grow manes because they are beyond the dominant male's domain. Neat, for lack of a better adjective.

Replying to #26

Binoculars?

Replying to #27

D'oh!? How could I forget ???

I was a bit wary clicking the link, but what an amazing thing to watch. It totally took me by surprise.

Replying to #29

Well worth it though, wasn't it?

Something a bit similar: www.schofieldandwhite.com/SCCSS/media/lionesses.mpgSorry about my lack of camera skills :P

is it strange...?
im crying with all my might...when one of my cats...or birds died...
but sometimes i didnt....when people died....
just so painfull if i thinking how pure they all.....and now they are gone.....anyway great vid :)

that brought tears to my eyes.

This picture was taken by me when I was at africa. A friend of mine put it on wikipedia so if you vist the lion page you can look at this Hansome Lion.

Nice video. hope they make a new video like that today. lets see if it will still get the same result. heard that global warming changes animals behavior, but thats just rumors. lol

Replying to #35

The man who rehabilitated Christian (and tens of other lions) was murdered in 1987. There have not been many, if any, attempts since.

murdered? why would anyone kill a person like that? we should rehabilitate more animals like that in the wild.is that Christian the lion still alive and how long does a lion live?

A lion's lifespan in the wild is about 15 years, so no, Christian is not still alive.I made a slight error about the date George was murdered. On the 20th of August, 1989, plane buzzed low over Campi ya Simba (Swahili, camp of the lions) on the Kora game reserve in Kenya, in signalling that there was a visitor waiting at the nearby airstrip. George dispatched a servant to pick up the visitor, but some while later the camp residents heard automatic gunfire from the direction of the airstrip. They piled into George's landrover and headed off. Some way along the road they found the servant lying against his landrover with both his legs broken and the guest (a German tourist) being held up by armed robbers. George's servants bailed out of the landrover and opened fire, while George attempted to run the robbers over. They dodged the landrover and shot him in the back as he passed, killing him instantly.There was such a public outcry within Kenya and Britain that the Kenyan government set the army loose in the reserve with orders to bring the robbers in alive or dead. They were arrested within 3 days.Georges wife, Joy, had been murdered by a servant several years earlier; she had been stabbed so brutally that the initial verdict was she had been mauled by an animal.

thats it i,m off ,loads of sniffs can just about see to type ,thats so good to see something like that ,it does make you think ,loved it thank you hugs txxx

Wow I always thought these animals will forget once they return to the wild.