Homeland: Although we’re called “king of the jungle,” a better name would be “king/queen of the African grasslands,” since that’s our main habitat.

Eats: Meat. Lot of it! We prefer zebras and wildebeest, since they’re not too fast and pretty easy to catch. But we’ll eat faster and smaller antelope and gazelles, too. In fact, if we’re really hungry, we’ll even try for giraffes, rhinos, hippos, and baby elephants. We don’t often succeed at hunting them, but when famished, we try.

Fun Facts:

• A lot of people wonder why male lions have manes. My personal theory, since I have such a big, handsome one, is that manes help us look big. That’s an important quality when you’re a lion! Also - did you know a lion’s mane darkens with age? A general rule of paw is that the darker the mane, the older the lion.

• Female lions do most of the hunting. But it’s we males who are first to eat. Lucky us. We need to be strong to protect the pride.

• Sometimes we hang out side-by-side with our meals. Lions kill only when hungry, and our prey can usually tell if we’re out to eat them or just to co-exist. If we’re not hungry, they’ll just ignore us and go about business as usual.