A Lion's Lair : Den or Not?


   Image taken from: istockphoto.com

A lion is the King of All Beasts. It is mainly found in the continent of Africa and the Gir forest in India. What is its home, though? If I were a normal preschooler, I would have said that the lion lives in a den. But how true really is this conventional, widely accepted address?

A lion and his pride would indeed live in a den, if it were available. But not all regions or areas have a proper rock formation to host a pride of lions. For example, Lions are found in the Kalahari Desert region of South Africa. This desert region with extreme temperatures is devoid  ( or has a small number ) of suitable rock structures where a lion and its pride are comfortable. Even if some infrastructure is present, it can happen that the pride is too large for all its individuals to fit into that cave.

Lions and lionesses, thus, live under the open sky, near a water source and where prey is plenty. Of course, this home lies within their own territory, for if they live in another pride’s territory, they are likely to be driven out or killed by the latter. Sometimes, lionesses step out of the pride or cut themselves out of it temporarily and go to search for any kind of closed and protected shelter. The purpose of this is to give birth to young ones in the newly found, safe place, where the young ones remain undetected by any animals (especially leopards and hyenas). 


These places can be thick bushes or shrubs where the cubs stay and hide during the night and most part of the day. They are frequently visited by their mother to be fed. These cubs stay here until they are old enough to defend themselves from other animals and have a stronger stature.
Apart from the reasons listed, lions and lionesses do not usually go in search of permanently standing structures.

Is this not something we should tell our children about? You can find more of my blogs on htps://ziyaasayed.wixsite.com/ziyasblog-1

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rich Love

 She held her child,  Covered in soot,  Her lips black and feet bruised Cooing in his ears,  He smiled in her embrace,  Showered by love,  In the beggar woman's motherly grace.  A broom in hand,  She sat on the train floor,  Smothering her child.  The world around her judged her clothes,  Her son's bare back,  His burning toes,  She faced the eyes,  She fought the words,   She forgot her state,  And with it all her fears.  Society is cruel,  She knew that fact,  And covered her child's Ears, Eyes and Head,  She did not care for the world As her world lay in her lap.
Read more

Mufasa, The Lion King: Movie Review

Mufasa, The Lion King is an addition to the highly successful The Lion King franchise and acts as a well written prequel to the famous and heart touching The Lion King 1994. It is directed by Barry Jenkins and produced by Adele Romanski and Mark Ceryak. It has gained great attention and a lot of well deserved applause.  It features the story of how Mufasa, the father of Simba, fights for the Pridelands and not being born into royalty, becomes the King he is.  The external conflict involves a greedy tyrant Lion named Kiros who rounds up albino lions who are not accepted by their own prides.  The internal conflict is showcased and minutely explains the roots of the widespread tree of hatred his own brother Taka had grown for him.  Mufasa uses high technology CGI which gave the animated characters some expressions, which the live action remake of The Lion King failed to achieve. It also has the classic touch of some great philosophical quotes that have deeper meaning th...
Read more

Wrinkles

Image
 I sat in my seat,  Staring at the beauty,  Who was staring at the window All folded and pretty.  That woman, I stared at  Noticing deep things,  And to myself I thought of many happenings Those knees, now in knots, Once had scratches and boos  Of the Playground.  Those feet, now swollen,  Once were decorated with gold n silver 'payal'. Those arms, now loose,  Once flailed away  As she played 'horsie' With her daddy.  Those nails, now plain and brittle,  Once had hot red nailpaint adorning them That hair, now brown and cream,  Was once ebony black,  Oiled and ribboned,  By a mother's caring beam.  Those ears, now stretched,  Once had long earrings hanging down them,  That figure, now under a saree,  Was once in a beautiful kurti.  Those eyes, now spectacled,  Once were 'kajal'- clad.  That loving embrace,  Once held three kids.  Those legs, now stick-held,  O...
Read more