African Lioness - 'Malaika'

This is MALAIKA. She is an 11 year old African Lioness. She weighs about 500 pounds. Her parents are black-maned lions. Malaika was hand-picked for our educational programs.

In appearance, the lion is a powerfully built, muscular cat. The fur is short and generally uniform in color, ranging from grey/buff to reddish brown in coloration with the exception of the undersides which are often white, especially in females. The back of the ears and tip of the tail are dark brown or black.

The lion is unusual amongst the cat species in that it lives in organized social groups called prides. The pride can consist of as many as thirty to forty lions, the majority being females and their offspring, along with a small number of resident males. It is common for the females within the pride to be closely related and this family bonding is often extended through communal suckling and caring of the young within the group.

In the wild, African Lions live in the savannah, which is a large, open, grassy plain. They hunt zebra, antelope, wildebeest, and deer. Hunting is a shared process. Lionesses hunt by ambush, with the majority of the hunting group chasing the prey toward individuals lying in wait who are then able to give chase over short distances before leaping on the selected animal for the kill. Once the prey is taken, it is common for the males of the pride to eat first even though they may take no part in the hunting process.