The lion is a member of the family Felidae and one of four big cats in the genus Panthera. With exceptionally large males exceeding 250 kg (550 lb) in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia with a critically endangered remnant population in northwest India, having disappeared from North Africa, the Middle East, and western Asia in historic times. Until the late Pleistocene (about 10,000 years ago), the lion was the most widespread large land mammal beside humans. They were found in most of Africa, much of Eurasia from western Europe to India, and the Bering land bridge and, in the Americas, from the Yukon to Peru. Lions live for approximately 10–14 years in the wild, while in captivity they can live over 20 years. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush and forest. Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a small number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates. The lion is an apex and keystone predator, although they will resort to scavenging if the opportunity arises. The lion is a vulnerable species, having seen a possibly irreversible population decline of 30 to 50% over the past two decades in its African range.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1626: Director-General of New Netherland Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from Native Americans in exchange for trade goods valued at 60 guilders. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit)

1738: At a Moravian Church meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, John Wesley experienced a spiritual rebirth, leading him to launch the Methodist movement. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley)

1822: Ecuadorian War of Independence: Troops led by Antonio José de Sucre secured the independence of Quito from Spain at the Battle of Pichincha. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pichincha)

1883: New York City's Brooklyn Bridge, at the time the longest suspension bridge in the world, was opened. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge)

1988: Section 28 of the United Kingdom Local Government Act of 1988, an amendment stating that a local authority cannot intentionally promote homosexuality, was enacted, generating so much controversy that it was eventually repealed fifteen years later. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28)

_____________________ Wiktionary's Word of the day:

pilfer: To steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practise petty theft. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pilfer)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. -- William Whewell (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Whewell)