It is also a sort of protection shield during fights. The long hair decreases the pain from the hits of its enemies. Young males have a little bit of hair around their heads when they are about one year old. The mane doesn't get fully-grown until the cub is about 5 years old. Manes can be blond, brown, or black. Most manes develop a mixture of these colors. They tend to get darker as the lion gets older.
The lions skin, or fur coat, is perfect for hiding. It is a brownish yellow, the same color as dead grass where they live. Only the back of the lion's ears and the end of its tail are solid black. The shoulders and forelegs of a lion are very muscular. They give the lion the strength to grab its prey and throw it to the ground. Each, big, heavy, paw is built with curved claws that hook and hold prey. When they are not in use, each claw goes into a covering, so that they will stay sharp. .
The lion has 30 teeth. The four large canine teeth are pointed and used to hold their prey, kill it, and tear the meet. Four cheek teeth, called the carnassial teeth, are used for cutting through tough skin and tendons that join the skin to the bone. The lion has no teeth that are built for chewing. The lion swallows its food in big chunks. .
The life of a lion.
The lion is the most sociable of all cats. A pride, otherwise known as a group, may include as many as 10 to 20 lions, or even up to 35. Each pride has from one to five adult males, a lot of lioness, and a lot of cubs. The members of the pride are not always together. Some of the lions can even hunt in the same place, with a few going to hunt in other hunting grounds. When the lions meet up again, they greet by rubbing cheeks.5.
Life inside the pride is peacful.6 Lions usually spend about 20 hours a day sleeping or resting.7 Cubs chase each other and wrestle a lot. A lioness sometimes wiggles her tail when one of her cubs tries to catch the bunch of hair at the end of her tail.
