Known as the King of the Jungle, lions need a LOT of food to keep them going, eating up to 40kg of meat in a single meal – around a quarter of their body weight. With large paws, there’s no need for table manners, lions use their tongues which have sharp pointed rasps called papillae to scrape the meat off the bones.
They’re clever too – choosing to hunt at night or during storms as the noise and wind make it harder for their prey to see and hear them. Like a game of netball, when hunting, each lioness has a specific role, some taking the position of ‘centre’ whilst other choosing the role of ‘wing’.
Lions hold a very special place in the heart of WildLife Foundation as they were the first animal welfare project undertaken over a decade ago!