Lions are the only cats that live in groups, which are called prides. Prides are family units that may include up to three males, a dozen or so females, and their young. All of a pride's lionesses are related, and female cubs typically stay with the group as they age. Young males eventually leave and establish their own prides btiony taking over a group headed by another male.
Only male lions boast manes, the impressive fringe of long hair that encircles their heads. Males defend the pride's territory, which may include some 100 square miles (259 square kilometers) of grasslands, scrub, or open woodlands. These intimidating animals mark the area with urine, roar menacingly to warn intruders, and chase off animals that encroach on their turf.
Female lions are the pride's primary hunters. They often work together to prey upon antelopes, zebras, wildebeest, and other large animals of the open grasslands. Many of these animals are faster than lions, so teamwork pays off.
After the hunt, the group effort often degenerates to squabbling over the sharing of the kill, with cubs at the bottom of the pecking order. Young lions do not help to hunt until they are about a year old. Lions will hunt alone if the opportunity presents itself, and they also steal kills from hyenas or wild dogs.
Lions have been celebrated throughout history for their courage and strength. They once roamed most of Africa and parts of Asia and Europe. Today they are found only in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, except for one very small population of Asian lions that survives in India's Gir Forest.
Powerful. Deadly. Elusive. Manana is a wild leopard. She could kill a man with ease. Yet besides her sits JV, unarmed and unharmed no bars, no cage. She gently brushes past him, almost touching. Today she will allow him to join her as a hunter, a privilege rarely bestowed on fellow leopards, let alone a human. John Varty, wildlife cameraman, has a unique friendship with this wild cat and has gained access to the mysterious world of one of nature's most enigmatic animals.
For three years David and Carol, along with Keith and Colleen Begg followed and filmed the lives of habituated wild badgers in the Kalahari wilderness as part of the first intensive study of these amazing carnivores. " Honey badgers may look innocent, about the size of an average dog, but these fearless foragers prey on more than 60 different species in the Kalahari, including some of the region's most dangerous snakes.
