Are Lions Protected Animals? An Interpretation of the Lion's Conservation Status
Lions are a large species of cat, and lions can often be seen in zoos and on television, so are lions protected animals?
1. Are lions protected animals?
Lions are protected animals. All African subspecies are listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, 2014 Red List of Threatened Species ver3.1——Vulnerable (VU). The Asiatic lion is listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, 2014 Red List of Threatened Species ver3.1——Endangered (EN).
2. The Lion's Appearance
Lions are large in size, with a well-proportioned body, medium-length limbs, and digitigrade locomotion. The head is large and round, the muzzle is relatively short, and sight, hearing and smell are all highly developed. The canine teeth and carnassial teeth are extremely well developed; the upper carnassial teeth have three cusps, and the lower carnassial teeth have 2 cusps; the molars are relatively reduced, and the diameter of the crown is smaller than the height of the outer incisors. The fur is soft. The front feet have 5 toes and the hind feet have 4 toes; the claws are sharp and retractable. The tail is relatively well developed. It has the title of “King of the Grasslands” and is Africa's top feline carnivore. A wild African male lion weighs an average of 240 kg, with a total length of up to 3.2 m. A lion's hair is short, and the body colour is light grey, yellow or tawny; male lions also grow very long manes, and the manes may be light brown, dark brown, black and so on, with the long manes extending all the way to the shoulders and chest.
It lives in tropical savannas and grasslands, and also appears in shrubland and dry forest. It is carnivorous and often kills other warm-blooded animals by ambush. It is distributed in the grasslands of Africa and in India in Asia. In the wild, lions live 10 to 14 years, and in captivity they live longer, generally reaching more than 20 years.
Lions are protected animals, and their numbers are currently relatively scarce, so people can only learn about lions from zoos or television.