Lioness Just Leaving Waterhole (Panthera leo)

            Okavango Delta
Botswana
Moremi Game Reserve

Happy Caturday!

This lioness was just leaving a waterhole after drinking when we first approached. She was separated from her pride and was preparing to rejoin them. She called to the other lions trying to determine where they were, and eventually we were able to track her back to the pride. She appeared pregnant or maybe she had just given birth to cubs. She was well aware we were watching her.

The lion (Panthera leo) is a species in the cat family (Felidae). The lion is sexually dimorphic; males are larger than females with a typical weight range of 150 to 250 kg (331 to 551 lb) for the former and 120 to 182 kg (265 to 401 lb) for the latter. Male lions have a prominent mane, which is the most recognizable feature of the species. 

A lion pride consists of a few adult males, related females and cubs. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The species is an apex and keystone predator, although they scavenge when opportunities occur. 

Typically, the lion inhabits grasslands and savannas but is absent in dense forests. It is usually more diurnal than other big cats, but when persecuted it adapts to being active at night and at twilight. In the Pleistocene, the lion ranged throughout Eurasia, Africa and the Americas from the Yukon to Peru but today it has been reduced to fragmented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa and one critically endangered population in western India.

It has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1996 because populations in African countries have declined by about 43% since the early 1990s. Habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes for concern. – Wikipedia

Taken in: Botswana (show map)

Taken on: November 26, 2013

Tags:

Botswana 2013

Moremi Game Reserve

Panthera Leo

Apex

Predator

Carnivore

Live In Prides

Keystone Species

Sometimes Scavenge

Vulnerable

Declined 43 Percent since the 1990s

Habitat Loss

Conflict With Humans

Sue Roehl

Pentax K7

Cropped Image

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Coth5+ « less

Sets appears in: • Botswana 2013 Part 2

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