document_title: Lion

question_text: who hunts most – male or female lions

question_tokens: who hunts most -- male or female lions

text: Lion

text: Etymology

text: The lion's name, which is similar in many Romance languages, is derived from Latin: leo[4] and Ancient Greek: λέων (leon).[5] The word lavi (Hebrew: לָבִיא) may also be related.[6]

text: Taxonomy and phylogeny

text: In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the lion in his work Systema Naturae and gave it the scientific name Felis leo.[3] Between the mid-18th and mid-20th centuries, 26 lion specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, of which 11 were recognised as valid in 2005.[1] They were distinguished on the basis of appearance, size and colour of mane. Because these characteristics show much variation between individuals, most of these forms were probably not true subspecies, especially because they were often based upon museum material with "striking, but abnormal" morphological characteristics.[11]

text: Based on the morphology of 58 lion skulls in three European museums, the subspecies krugeri, nubica, persica and senegalensis were assessed distinct but bleyenberghi overlapped with senegalensis and krugeri. The Asiatic lion persica was the most distinctive and the Cape lion had characteristics allying it more with persica than the other sub-Saharan lions.[12]

text:
The lion's closest relatives are the other species of the genus Panthera; the tiger, snow leopard, jaguar, and leopard. Results of phylogenetic studies published in 2006 and 2009 indicate that the jaguar and the lion belong to one sister group that diverged about 2.06 million years ago.[7][8] Results of later studies published in 2010 and 2011 indicate that the leopard and the lion belong to the same sister group, which diverged 1.95–3.10 million years ago.[9][10]
Hybridisation between lion and snow leopard populations, however, may have continued until about 2.1 million years ago.[13]

text: Subspecies

text:
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several lion type specimen were described and proposed as subspecies.[14]
Between 2008 and 2016, IUCN Red List assessors for lions used only two subspecific names; P. l. leo for African lion populations and P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion population.[2][15][16] In 2017, the Cat Classification Task Force of the Cat Specialist Group revised classification of the subspecies:[14]

text:
P. l. leo (Linnaeus, 1758) is the nominate lion subspecies and includes the regionally extinct North African, as well as the Asian, West and Central African lion populations.[14] Former synonyms include P. l. persica (Meyer, 1826), P. l. senegalensis (Meyer, 1826), P. l. kamptzi (Matschie, 1900), and P. l. azandica (Allen, 1924).[1]
P. l. melanochaita (Smith, 1842) includes the regionally extinct Cape lion.[14] Former synonyms include P. l. massaica (Neumann, 1900), P. l. sabakiensis (Lönnberg, 1910), P. l. bleyenberghi (Lönnberg, 1914), P. l. roosevelti (Heller, 1914), P. l. nyanzae (Heller, 1914), P. l. hollisteri (Allen), 1924), P. l. krugeri (Roberts, 1929), P. l. vernayi (Roberts, 1948)[1] and P. l. webbiensis (Zukowsky, 1964).[17]

text: There is phylogenetic evidence that Ethiopia was a contact zone between the two subspecies.[18][14]

text: Extinct species and subspecies

text: Other lion subspecies or sister species to the modern lion existed in prehistoric times:[19]

text:
Panthera leo fossilis bone fragments excavated in Germany, United Kingdom, Italy and Czech Republic have been estimated to be between 680,000 and 600,000 years old.[20] The animal was larger than the modern lion.[21][22]
Panthera spelaea bone fragments were excavated in Europe, North Asia, Canada and Alaska. It probably became extinct between 14,900 and 11,900 years ago.[23] The oldest known bone fragments are estimated to be between 109,000 and 57,000 years old.[24] It is depicted in Paleolithic cave paintings, ivory carvings, and clay busts, which show it as having protruding ears, tufted tails and faint, tiger-like stripes.[25] A few specimens are depicted with ruffs around their necks.[26]
P. l. atrox or P. atrox, known as the American lion or American cave lion, existed in the Americas from Canada to Peru in the Pleistocene Epoch until about 10,000 years ago. This form is a sister clade of P. spelaea that likely arose when an early P. spelaea population became isolated south of the North American continental ice sheet about 0.34 Mya.[27] It is among the largest purported lion subspecies to have existed; its body length is estimated to have been 1.6–2.5 m (5.2–8.2 ft).[28]

text: Dubious subspecies

text:
P. l. youngi or Panthera youngi flourished 350,000 years ago.[29] Its relationship to the extant lion subspecies is obscure; it probably represents a distinct species.
P. l. mesopotamica was described on the basis of a relief from the Neo-Assyrian Period made between 1000 BC and 600 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.[30]
P. l. europaea was proposed for subfossil remains of lions excavated in Southern Europe that date to between the Late Neolithic and the Early Iron Age.[31]
P. l. maculatus, known as the Marozi or spotted lion, is sometimes thought to be a distinct subspecies but may be an adult lion that has retained its juvenile spotted pattern. If it was a subspecies rather than a small number of aberrantly coloured individuals, it has been extinct since 1931. It also may have been a natural leopard-lion hybrid commonly known as a leopon, although this is a less-likely identification.[32]

text: Hybrids

text: Lions have been known to interbreed with tigers – most often the Siberian and Bengal tigers—to create hybrids called "ligers" and "tiglons" or "tigons".[33][34] They also have been crossed with leopards to produce "leopons".[35] Such hybrid breeding is now discouraged because of the emphasis on conserving species and subspecies. Hybrids are still bred in private menageries and in zoos in China.(in Chamorro)

text: The liger is a cross between a male lion and a tigress.[33] Because the growth-inhibiting gene from the tiger mother is absent, the growth-promoting gene passed on by the lion father is unimpeded by a regulating gene and the resulting liger grows far larger than either parent. The liger inherits the physical and behavioural qualities of both parent species; for example, its coat has both spots and stripes on a sandy background. Male ligers are sterile but females often are fertile. Males have about a 50% chance of having a mane, which will be around 50% the size of a pure-bred lion mane. Ligers are much bigger than normal lions and tigers; they are typically 3.65 m (12.0 ft) in length, and can weigh up to 500 kg (1,100 lb).[33][34]

text: The less-common tiglon or tigon is a cross between a lioness and a male tiger.[36] In contrast to ligers, tigons are often relatively small in comparison with their parents because of reciprocal gene effects.[34]

text: Evolution and genetic diversity

text: The lion evolved between 1 million and 800,000 years ago in Africa, from where it spread throughout the Holarctic region.[38] The earliest fossil record in Europe was found near Pakefield in the United Kingdom and is about 680,000 years old.[20] From this lion, the late Pleistocene Eurasian cave lion probably derived about 300,000 years ago.[39] Fossil remains found in the Cromer Forest Bed suggest it was of a gigantic size and represented a lineage that was genetically isolated and highly distinct from lions in Africa and Asia.[40] It was distributed throughout Europe, across Siberia and into western Alaska via the Beringian landmass. The gradual formation of dense forest likely caused the decline of its geographic range near the end of the Late Pleistocene. Lion bones are frequently encountered in cave deposits from Eemian times, suggesting the cave lion survived in the Balkans and Asia Minor. There was probably a continuous population extending into India.[41] Fossil lion remains were found in Pleistocene deposits in West Bengal.[42] It became extinct about 10,000 years ago at the end of the last glacial period without mitochondrial descendants on other continents.[21][40]

text: A fossil carnassial found in the Batadomba Cave indicates that Panthera leo sinhaleyus inhabited Sri Lanka during the late Pleistocene, and is thought to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago. This subspecies was described by Deraniyagala in 1939. It is distinct from the contemporary lion.[43]

text: The modern lion probably originated in East and Southern Africa about 100,000 years ago.[18] During the last glacial maximum until about 20,000 years ago, it was likely distributed throughout most of Southern and Central Africa, and expanded its range northwards during the early Holocene about 10,000 to 4,000 years ago.[44] Early phylogenetic research was focused on lions from eastern and southern parts of Africa, and already showed they can possibly be divided in two main clades; one to the west of the Great Rift Valley and the other to the east. Lions in eastern Kenya are genetically much closer to lions in Southern Africa than to lions in Aberdare National Park in western Kenya.[45]

text:
In a subsequent study, tissue and bone samples of 32 lion specimens in museums were used. Results indicated lions form three phylogeographic groups: one each in Asia and North Africa, in Central Africa and in Southern Africa.[44] Samples of 53 lions, both wild and captive, from 15 countries were used for phylogenetic analysis. Results showed little genetic diversity among lion samples from Asia and western and central Africa, whereas samples from East and Southern Africa revealed numerous mutations indicating this group has a longer evolutionary history.[46]
Results of another phylogeographic study indicate the two groups probably diverged between about 186,000 and 128,000 years ago. It is thought that the Asiatic lion remained connected to northern and central African lions until gene flow was interrupted by extinction of lion populations in the Middle East and Europe. Haplotypes from the central African lion group were found in nine of 19 lion samples from Ethiopia, indicating that the Great Rift Valley was not a complete barrier to gene flow but was a genetic admixture zone between lions in central and eastern Africa.[18]

text: Approximately 77% of the captive lions registered in the International Species Information System in 2006 were of unknown origin; these animals might have carried genes that are extinct in the wild and may therefore be important to the maintenance of the overall genetic variability of the lion.[47] Lions imported to Europe before the middle of the 19th century were possibly foremost Barbary lions from North Africa, or Cape lions from Southern Africa.[48]

text: Description

text: The lion is a muscular, deep-chested cat with a short, rounded head, a reduced neck and round ears. Its fur varies in colour from light buff to silvery grey, yellowish red and dark brown.[49] The colours of the underparts are generally lighter. When they are born, have dark spots on their bodies; these spots fade as the cubs reach adulthood, although faint spots often may still be seen on the legs and underparts. The lion is the only member of the cat family that displays obvious sexual dimorphism. Males are more robust than females; they have broader heads and a prominent mane that grows downwards and backwards to cover most of the head, neck, shoulders, and chest. The mane is typically brownish and tinged with yellow, rust and black hairs. The tail ends in a dark, hairy tuft that in some lions conceals an approximately 5 mm (0.20 in)-long, hard "spine" or "spur" that is formed from the final, fused sections of tail bone. The functions of the spur are unknown. The tuft is absent at birth and develops at around 5 1⁄2 months of age and is readily identifiable by the age of seven months.[50]

text: Of the living, non-hybrid felids, the lion is rivalled only by the tiger in length, weight and height at the shoulder.[51] Its skull is very similar to that of the tiger, although the frontal region is usually more depressed and flattened, and has a slightly shorter postorbital region and broader nasal openings than those of the tiger. Due to the amount of skull variation in the two species, usually only the structure of the lower jaw can be used as a reliable indicator of species.[33][34][52] The size and weight of adult lions varies across global range and habitats.[53][54][55][56]

text:
Average
Female lions
Male lions

Head-and-body length

140–175 cm (4 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in)[56]

170–298 cm (5 ft 7 in–9 ft 9 in)[55]

Tail length

70–100 cm (2 ft 4 in–3 ft 3 in)[56]

90–105 cm (2 ft 11 in–3 ft 5 in)[56]

Weight

120–182 kg (265–401 lb),[56] 124.2–139.8 kg (274–308 lb) in Southern Africa,[53]119.5 kg (263 lb) in East Africa,[53]110–120 kg (240–260 lb) in India[54]

150–250 kg (330–550 lb),[56]187.5–193.3 kg (413–426 lb) in Southern Africa,[53]174.9 kg (386 lb) in East Africa,[53]
160–190 kg (350–420 lb) in India[54]

text: Accounts of a few individuals that were larger than average exist from Africa and India.[57][58][59][60] For the Pleistocene American lion, a study in 2012 estimated a weight range of 235–523 kg (518–1,153 pounds) for males and 175–365 kg (386–805 pounds) for females.[61]

text: Mane

text: The lion's mane is the most recognisable feature of the species.[17] It starts growing when lions are about a year old. Mane colour varies and darkens with age; research shows its colour and size are influenced by environmental factors such as average ambient temperature. Mane length apparently signals fighting success in male–male relationships; darker-maned individuals may have longer reproductive lives and higher offspring survival, although they suffer in the hottest months of the year. The presence, absence, colour and size of the mane are associated with genetic precondition, sexual maturity, climate and testosterone production; the rule of thumb is that a darker, fuller mane indicates a healthier animal. In Serengeti National Park, female lions favour males with dense, dark manes as mates.[62][63] The main purpose of the mane is thought be the protection of the neck and throat in territorial fights with rivals.[64] Cool ambient temperature in European and North American zoos may result in a heavier mane.[47] Asiatic lions usually have sparser manes than average African lions.[65]

text: Almost all West African males In the area of Pendjari National Park are either maneless or have very insubstantial manes.[66] Maneless male African lions have also been reported in Senegal, in Sudan's Dinder National Park and in Tsavo East National Park, Kenya.[67] The original male white lion from Timbavati was also maneless. The hormone testosterone has been linked to mane growth; castrated lions often have little to no mane because the removal of the gonads inhibits testosterone production.[68] Increased testosterone may be the cause of maned lionesses reported in northern Botswana.[69]

text: Cave paintings of extinct European cave lions almost exclusively show hunting animals with no manes; some suggest this is evidence the males of this species were maneless.[26] Because the hunting usually involved groups of lionesses, however, this presumption remains unproven. In the Chauvet Cave is a sketchy drawing of two maneless lions that appearing to be walking side-by-side. One lion is mostly obscured by the other; the obscuring lion is larger than the obscured one and is depicted with a scrotum.[38]

text: Colour variation

text: The white lion is a rare morph with a genetic condition called leucism that is caused by a double recessive allele. It is not albino; it has normal pigmentation in the eyes and skin. White lions have been occasionally been encountered in and around Kruger National Park and the adjacent Timbavati Private Game Reserve in eastern South Africa. They were removed from the wild in the 1970s, thus decreasing the white lion gene pool. Nevertheless, 17 births have been recorded in five prides between 2007 and 2015.[70] White lions are selected for breeding in captivity.[71] They have reportedly been bred in camps in South Africa for use as trophies to be killed during canned hunts.[72]

text: A melanistic Asiatic lion from Khuzestan, Iran, which was dark brown with nearly black patches, was described by Austen Henry Layard.[73]

text: Behaviour and ecology

text: Lions spend much of their time resting; they are inactive for about 20 hours per day.[74] Although lions can be active at any time, their activity generally peaks after dusk with a period of socialising, grooming and defecating. Intermittent bursts of activity continue until dawn, when hunting most often takes place. They spend an average of two hours a day walking and 50 minutes eating.[75]

text: Group organisation

text: The lion is the most social of all wild cat species, living in groups of related individuals with their offspring. Such a group is called a "pride". Groups of male lions are called "coalitions".[76] Females form the stable social unit in a pride and do not tolerate outside females.[77] Membership only changes with the births and deaths of lionesses,[78] although some females leave and become nomadic.[79] The average pride consists of around 15 lions, including several adult females and up to four males and their cubs of both sexes. Large prides, consisting of up to 30 individuals, have been observed.[80] The sole exception to this pattern is the Tsavo lion pride that always has just one adult male.[81] Male cubs are excluded from their maternal pride when they reach maturity at around two or three years of age.[79]

text: Some lions are "nomads" that range widely and move around sporadically, either in pairs or alone.[76] Pairs are more frequent among related males who have been excluded from their birth pride. A lion may switch lifestyles; nomads can become residents and vice versa.[82] Interactions between prides and nomads tend to be hostile, although pride females in estrous allow nomadic males to approach them.[83] Males spend years in a nomadic phase before gaining residence in a pride.[84] A study undertaken in the Serengeti National Park revealed that nomadic coalitions gain residency at between 3.5 and 7.3 years of age.[85]

text: The area occupied by a pride is called a "pride area" whereas that occupied by a nomad is a "range".[76] Males associated with a pride tend to stay on the fringes, patrolling their territory. The reasons for the development of sociality in lionesses – the most pronounced in any cat species – are the subject of much debate. Increased hunting success appears to be an obvious reason, but this is uncertain upon examination; coordinated hunting allows for more successful predation but also ensures non-hunting members reduce per capita calorific intake. Some females, however, take a role raising cubs that may be left alone for extended periods. Members of the pride tend to regularly play the same role in hunts and hone their skills. The health of the hunters is the primary need for the survival of the pride; hunters are the first to consume the prey at the site it is taken. Other benefits include possible kin selection – it is preferable to share food with a related lion than with a stranger – protection of the young, maintenance of territory and individual insurance against injury and hunger.[58]

text: Both males and females defend the pride against intruders but the male lion is better-suited for this purpose due to its stockier, more powerful build.[86] Some individuals consistently lead the defence against intruders, while others lag behind.[87] Lions tend to assume specific roles in the pride; slower-moving individuals may provide other valuable services to the group.[88] Alternatively, there may be rewards associated with being a leader that fends off intruders; the rank of lionesses in the pride is reflected in these responses.[89] The male or males associated with the pride must defend their relationship with the pride from outside males who may attempt to usurp them.

text: Asiatic lion prides differ from African prides in group composition. Male Asiatic lions are solitary or associate with up to three males, forming a loose pride. Pairs of males rest and feed together, and display marking behaviour at the same sites. Females associate with up to 12 other females, forming a stronger pride together with their cubs. They share large carcasses with each other but seldom share food with males. Female and male lions associate only when mating.[90] Coalitions of males hold territory for a longer time than single lions. Males in coalitions of three or four individuals exhibit a pronounced hierarchy, in which one male dominates the others. Dominant males mate more frequently than their coalition partners; during a study carried out between December 2012 and December 2016, three females were observed switching mating partners in favour of the dominant male.[91]

text: Hunting and diet

text: The lion is a generalist hypercarnivore[92] and usually hunts in groups. Its prey consists mainly of mammals – particularly ungulates – with a preference in Africa for blue wildebeest, plains zebra, African buffalo, gemsbok and giraffe;[93] and in India for chital, sambar deer, nilgai, wild boar, chinkara and chousingha.[94] Because of its wide prey spectrum, the lion is considered to be an apex and keystone predator.[95] African lions prefer prey weighing 190–550 kg (420–1,210 lb).[93] They generally avoid fully grown adult elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotamus, as well as small prey like dik-dik, hyrax, hare and vervet monkey.[96] African lions, however, hunt Thomson's gazelle[97] and kill common warthog depending on availability, although both species are below the preferred weight range.[93] Lions also attack domestic livestock that, in India, contribute significantly to their diet.[65][94] Unusual prey items include porcupines and small reptiles. Lions kill other predators such as leopard, cheetah and hyenas but seldom consume them.[98]

text: In many areas, a small number of species comprise around three quarters of the lion's diet. In Serengeti National Park, wildebeest, zebra and gazelle form the majority of lion prey.[99] In Kruger National Park, the giraffe is the most common prey.[100] In Manyara Park, Cape buffalo constitutes about 62% of the lion's meat consumption.[101] In the Okavango Delta, potential prey migrate seasonally. Up to eight species comprise three quarters of a lion's diet.[99] The size and aquatic nature of hippopotamus means it is normally unavailable as prey but lions in Virunga National Park occasionally hunt hippopotamus calves and in Gorongosa National Park they also take adult specimens.[92] In Savuti marsh in Botswana's Chobe National Park, lions have been recorded preying on juvenile and sub-adult African bush elephants during the dry season, when ungulates migrate away from the area. In October 2005, a pride of up to 30 lions killed and consumed eight African bush elephants that were between four and eleven years old. The prey-to-predator weight ratio of 10–15:1 between elephants and lions, respectively, is the highest ratio known among terrestrial animals.[102]

text: Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two.[103] Single lions are capable of bringing down prey twice their size, such as zebra and wildebeest, while hunting larger prey like giraffes and buffalo alone is too risky. Cooperatively hunting lions are usually successful.[82][97] In prides, lionesses do most of the hunting.[82] In typical hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing" then attacking or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting.[104] Some evidence suggests, however, that pride males are just as successful as females; they are solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.[105] Lions are not particularly known for their stamina – for instance, a lioness' heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight.[106] Thus, lions only run quickly in short bursts[107] and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night.[108] Because lions are ambush hunters, human farmers have recently found that lions are easily discouraged if they think their prey has seen them. To protect their cattle from such attacks with that knowledge in mind, farmers have found it effective to paint eyes on the hindquarters of each cow, which is usually enough to make hunting lions think they have been seen and select easier prey.[109]

text: The lion's attack is short and powerful; they attempt to catch prey with a fast rush and final leap, and usually kill prey by strangulation,[110] which can cause cerebral ischemia or asphyxia and results in hypoxaemia or hypoxia. They also kill prey by enclosing its mouth and nostrils in their jaws, which also results in asphyxia.[56] Lions typically consume prey at the location of the hunt but sometimes drag large prey into cover.[111][112] They tend to squabble over kills, particularly the males. Cubs suffer most when food is scarce but otherwise all pride members eat their fill, including old and crippled lions, which can live on leftovers.[82] Large kills are shared more widely among pride members.[113] An adult lioness requires an average of about 5 kg (11 lb) of meat per day while males require about 7 kg (15 lb).[114] Lions gorge themselves and eat up to 30 kg (66 lb) in one session;[115] if it is unable to consume all of the kill, it rests for a few hours before continuing to eat. On hot days, the pride retreats to shade with one or two males standing guard.[111] Lions defend their kills from scavengers such as vultures and hyenas.[82]

text: Lions scavenge on carrion when the opportunity arises; they scavenge animals dead from natural causes such as disease or those that were killed by other predators. Scavenging lions keep a constant lookout for circling vultures, which indicate the death or distress of an animal.[116] Most carrion on which both hyenas and lions feed upon are killed by hyenas rather than lions.[56] Carrion is thought to provide a large part of lion diet.[117]

text: Predator competition

text: African lions and spotted hyenas occupy a similar ecological niche and where they coexist they compete for prey and carrion; a review of data across several studies indicates a dietary overlap of 58.6%.[118] Lions typically ignore spotted hyenas unless the lions are on a kill or are being harassed by the hyenas, while the latter tend to visibly react to the presence of lions, with or without the presence of food. Lions seize the kills of spotted hyenas; in the Ngorongoro crater it is common for lions to subsist largely on kills stolen from hyenas, causing the hyenas to increase their kill rate.[119] In Botswana's Chobe National Park, the situation is reversed; hyenas frequently challenge lions and steal their kills, obtaining food from 63% of all lion kills.[120] When confronted on a kill by lions, spotted hyenas may either leave or wait patiently at a distance of 30–100 m (98–328 ft) until the lions have finished.[121] Hyenas are bold enough to feed alongside lions and to force the lions off a kill. The two species attack one another even when there is no food involved for no apparent reason.[122][123] Lion predation can account for up to 71% of hyena deaths in Etosha National Park. Spotted hyenas have adapted by frequently mobbing lions that enter their territories.[124] When the lion population in Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve declined, the spotted hyena population increased rapidly.[125] Experiments on captive spotted hyenas show that specimens without prior experience with lions act indifferently to the sight of them, but will react fearfully to lion scent.[119] The size of male lions allows them to occasionally confront hyenas in otherwise evenly matched brawls and decide the balance in favour of the lions.

text: Lions tend to dominate smaller felids such as cheetahs and leopards where they coexist; lions steal the kills and kill the cubs – and even adults when given the chance.[126] The cheetah in particular has a 50% chance of losing its kills to lions or other predators.[127] Lions are major killers of cheetah cubs, in one study accounting for up to 78.2% of predator-killed juveniles.[128] Cheetahs avoid their competitors by using different temporal (time) and spatial (habitat) niches.[129] Leopards are able to take refuge in trees; lionesses, however, will occasionally be successful in climbing to retrieve leopard kills.[130] Lions similarly dominate African wild dogs, taking their kills and preying on young and rarely adult dogs. Population densities of wild dogs are low in areas where lions are more abundant.[131] However, there are a few reported cases of old and wounded lions falling prey to wild dogs.[100][132] African lions may also conflict with Nile crocodiles; depending on the sizes of the crocodile and the lion, either can lose kills or carrion to the other. Lions have been known to kill crocodiles venturing onto land,[133] while the reverse is true for lions entering waterways, evidenced by the occasional lion claw found in crocodile stomachs.[134]

text: Reproduction and life cycle

text: Most lionesses will have reproduced by the time they are four years of age.[135] Lions do not mate at a specific time of year and the females are polyestrous.[136] Like those of other cats, the male lion's penis has spines that point backward. During withdrawal of the penis, the spines rake the walls of the female's vagina, which may cause ovulation.[137][138] A lioness may mate with more than one male when she is in heat.[139]

text: The average gestation period is around 110 days;[136] the female gives birth to a litter of between one and four cubs in a secluded den, which may be a thicket, a reed-bed, a cave, or some other sheltered area, usually away from the pride. She will often hunt alone while the cubs are still helpless, staying relatively close to the den.[140] Lion cubs are born blind – their eyes open around seven days after birth. They weigh 1.2–2.1 kg (2.6–4.6 lb) at birth and are almost helpless, beginning to crawl a day or two after birth and walking around three weeks of age.[141] To avoid a buildup of scent attracting the attention of predators, the lioness moves her cubs to a new den site several times a month, carrying them one-by-one by the nape of the neck.[140]

text: Usually, the mother does not integrate herself and her cubs back into the pride until the cubs are six to eight weeks old.[140] Sometimes this introduction to pride life occurs earlier, particularly if other lionesses have given birth at about the same time. Pride lionesses often synchronise their reproductive cycles and communal rearing and suckling of the young, which suckle indiscriminately from any or all of the nursing females in the pride. The synchronization of births is advantageous because the cubs grow to being roughly the same size and have an equal chance of survival, and sucklings are not dominated by older cubs.[82][142]

text: When first introduced to the rest of the pride, lion cubs lack confidence when confronted with adults other than their mother. They soon begin to immerse themselves in the pride life, however, playing among themselves or attempting to initiate play with the adults.[142] Lionesses with cubs of their own are more likely to be tolerant of another lioness's cubs than lionesses without cubs. Male tolerance of the cubs varies – sometimes a male will patiently let the cubs play with his tail or his mane, whereas another may snarl and bat the cubs away.[143]

text: Weaning occurs after six or seven months. Male lions reach maturity at about three years of age and at four to five years are capable of challenging and displacing adult males associated with another pride. They begin to age and weaken at between 10 and 15 years of age at the latest.[144] When one or more new males oust the previous males associated with a pride, the victors often kill any existing young cubs, perhaps because females do not become fertile and receptive until their cubs mature or die. Females often fiercely defend their cubs from a usurping male but are rarely successful unless a group of three or four mothers within a pride join forces against the male.[145] Cubs also die from starvation and abandonment, and predation by leopards, hyenas and wild dogs.[132][82] Up to 80% of lion cubs will die before the age of two.[146]

text: Both male and female lions may be ousted from prides to become nomads, although most females usually remain with their birth pride. When a pride becomes too large, however, the youngest generation of female cubs may be forced to leave to find their own territory. When a new male lion takes over a pride, adolescent lions – both male and female – may be evicted.[147]

text: Lions of both sexes may interact homosexually. Lions are shown to be involved in group homosexual and courtship activities; males will also head-rub and roll around with each other before simulating sex together.[148][149]

text: Health

text: Although adult lions have no natural predators, evidence suggests most die violently from attacks by humans or other lions.[150] Lions often inflict serious injuries on members of other prides they encounter in territorial disputes or members of the home pride when fighting at a kill.[151] Crippled lions and cubs may fall victim to hyenas and leopards or be trampled by buffalo or elephants. Careless lions may be maimed when hunting prey.[152]

text: Ticks commonly infest the ears, neck and groin regions of lions.[153][154] Adult forms of several species of the tapeworm genus Taenia have been isolated from lion intestines, having been ingested as larvae in antelope meat.[155] Lions in the Ngorongoro Crater were afflicted by an outbreak of stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) in 1962; this resulted in lions becoming emaciated and covered in bloody, bare patches. Lions sought unsuccessfully to evade the biting flies by climbing trees or crawling into hyena burrows; many perished or migrated and the local population dropped from 70 to 15 individuals.[156] A more recent outbreak in 2001 killed six lions.[157]

text: Lions, especially those in captivity, are vulnerable to the canine distemper virus (CDV), feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline infectious peritonitis (FIP).[11] CDV is spread by domestic dogs and other carnivores; a 1994 outbreak in Serengeti National Park resulted in many lions developing neurological symptoms such as seizures. During the outbreak, several lions died from pneumonia and encephalitis.[158] FIV, which is similar to HIV – while not known to adversely affect lions – is worrisome enough in its effect in domestic cats that the Species Survival Plan recommends systematic testing in captive lions. The virus occurs with high-to-endemic frequency in several wild lion populations but is mostly absent from Asiatic and Namibian lions.[11]

text: Communication

text: When resting, lion socialisation occurs through a number of behaviours; the animal's expressive movements are highly developed. The most common peaceful, tactile gestures are head rubbing and social licking,[159] which have been compared with grooming in primates.[160] Head rubbing – the nuzzling of the forehead, face and neck against another lion – appears to be a form of greeting[161] and is seen often after an animal has been apart from others or after a fight or confrontation. Males tend to rub other males, while cubs and females rub females.[162] Social licking often occurs in tandem with head rubbing; it is generally mutual and the recipient appears to express pleasure. The head and neck are the most common parts of the body licked; this behaviour may have arisen out of utility because lions cannot lick these areas themselves.[163]

text:
Lion roar

A captive lion in India roaring
Problems playing this file? See media help.

text: Lions have an array of facial expressions and body postures that serve as visual gestures.[164] A common facial expression is the "grimace face" or flehmen response, which a lion makes when sniffing chemical signals and involves an open mouth with bared teeth, raised muzzle, wrinkled nose closed eyes and relaxed ears.[165] Lions also use chemical and visual marking; males will spray and scrape plots of ground and objects within the territory.[164]

text: The repertoire of vocalisations is also large; rather than discrete signals, variations in intensity and pitch appear to be central to communication. Most lion vocalisations are variations of growling, snarling, miaowing and roaring. Other sounds produced include purring, puffing, bleating and humming.[166] Lions tend to roar in a very characteristic manner starting with a few deep, long roars that subside into a series of shorter ones.[167][168] They most often roar at night; the sound, which can be heard from a distance of 8 kilometres (5.0 mi), is used to advertise the animal's presence.[166]

text: Distribution and habitat

text: The lion prefers grassy plains and savannahs, scrub bordering rivers and open woodlands with bushes. It is absent from rainforest and rarely enters closed forest. On Mount Elgon, the lion has been recorded up to an elevation of 3,600 m (11,800 ft) and close to the snow line on Mount Kenya.[57] Lions occur in savannah grasslands with scattered Acacia trees, which serve as shade.[169]

text: In Africa, the range of the lion originally spanned most of the central rainforest zone and the Sahara desert.[170] In the 1960s, it became extinct in North Africa, except in the southern part of Sudan.[171][172][173]

text: In Eurasia, the lion once ranged from Greece to India; Herodotus reported that lions had been common in Greece in 480 BC; they attacked the baggage camels of the Persian king Xerxes on his march through the country. Aristotle considered them rare by 300 BC, and by 100 AD, they had been extirpated.[170] Until the 10th century, lions survived in the Caucasus, their last European outpost.[52] The species was eradicated in Palestine by the Middle Ages, and from most of the rest of Asia after the arrival of readily available firearms in the 18th century. Between the late 19th and late 20th centuries, it became extinct in Southwest Asia. By the late 19th century, the lion had been extirpated in most of northern India and Turkey.[73][174] The last live lion in Iran was sighted in 1942, about 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Dezful.[175] The corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of the Karun river, Khūzestān Province, in 1944. There are no subsequent reliable reports from Iran.[115]

text: The Asiatic lion now only survives in and around Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat, western India. Its habitat is a mixture of dry savannah forest and very dry, deciduous scrub forest.[15]

text: Conservation

text: In Africa

text: Most lions now live in East and Southern Africa; their numbers are rapidly decreasing, and fell by an estimated 30–50% each 20 years in the late half of the 20th century. The species is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.[2] In 1975, it was estimated that since the 1950s, lion numbers decreased by half to 200,000 or fewer.[176] Estimates of the African lion population range between 16,500 and 47,000 living in the wild in 2002–2004.[177][171] Primary causes of the decline include disease and human interference. Habitat loss and conflicts with humans are considered to be the most significant threats to the species.[2]

text: The Ewaso Lions Project protects lions in the Samburu National Reserve, Buffalo Springs National Reserve and Shaba National Reserve of the Ewaso Ng'iro ecosystem in Northern Kenya.[178] Outside these areas, the problems arising from lions' interaction with humans and their livestock usually results in the elimination of the lions.[179]

text: Zambia's Kafue National Park is a key refuge for lions where frequent, uncontrolled bushfires combined with hunting of lions and prey species limits the ability of the lion population to recover. When favourable habitat is inundated in the wet season, lions expand home ranges and travel greater distances, and cub mortality is high.[180]

text: In 2015, a population of up to 200 lions that was previously thought to have been extirpated was filmed in the Alatash National Park, Ethiopia, close to the Sudanese border.[181][182]

text: The West African lion population is isolated from the one in Central Africa, with little or no exchange of breeding individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that this population consists of about 400 animals, including fewer than 250 mature individuals. They persist in three protected areas in the region, mostly in one population in the WAP protected area complex, shared by Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. This population is listed as Critically Endangered.[16] Field surveys in the WAP ecosystem revealed that lion occupancy is lowest in the W National Park, and higher in areas with permanent staff and thus better protection.[183] A population occurs in Cameroon's Waza National Park, where between approximately 14 and 21 animals persisted as of 2009.[184] In addition, 50 to 150 lions in are estimated to be present in Burkina Faso's Arly-Singou ecosystem.[185] In 2015, an adult male lion and a female lion were sighted in Ghana's Mole National Park. These were the first sightings of lions in the country in 39 years.[186]

text: In Gabon's Batéké Plateau National Park, a single male lion was repeatedly recorded by camera-traps between January 2015 and September 2017. Five hair samples from this lion were collected and compared with samples from museum specimens that had been shot in the area in 1959. Genetic analysis showed the Batéké lion is closely related to lions killed in this region in the past. The samples grouped it with lion samples from Namibia and Botswana, raising the possibility that the Batéké lion either dispersed from a Southern African lion population or is a survivor of the ancestral Batéké population that was considered to be extinct since the late 1990s.[187]

text: In the Republic of the Congo, Odzala-Kokoua National Park was considered a lion stronghold in the 1990s. By 2014, no lions were recorded in the protected area so the population is considered locally extinct.[188] In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there are about 150 lions in Garamba National Park, and 90 in Virunga National Park; he latter form a contiguous population with lions in Uganda.[189][172][171] In 2010, the lion population in Uganda was estimated at 408 ± 46 individuals in three protected areas including Queen Elizabeth National Park.[190] Little is known about lion distribution and population sizes in adjacent South Sudan. In Sudan, lions were reported in Southern Darfur and Southern Kordofan provinces in the 1980s.[171][172]

text: In Asia

text: The last refuge of the Asiatic lion is the 1,412 km2 (545 sq mi) Gir Forest National Park and surrounding areas in the region of Saurashtra or Kathiawar Peninsula in Gujarat State, India. The population has risen from approximately 180 lions in 1974 to about 400 in 2010.[191] It is geographically isolated, which can lead to inbreeding and reduced genetic diversity. Since 2008, the Asiatic lion has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.[15] By 2015, the population had grown to 523 individuals inhabiting an area of 7,000 km2 (2,700 sq mi) in Saurashtra.[192][193][194] The Asiatic Lion Census conducted in 2017 recorded about 650 individuals.[195]

text: The presence of numerous human habitations close to the National Park results in conflict between lions, local people and their livestock.[196][192] The establishment of a second, independent Asiatic lion population in Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, located in Madhya Pradesh was planned but in 2017, the Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project seemed unlikely to be implemented.[197][198]

text: Captive breeding

text: Lions are included in the Species Survival Plan, a coordinated attempt by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to increase its chances of survival. The plan was started in 1982 for the Asiatic lion, but was suspended when it was found that most Asiatic lions in North American zoos were not genetically pure, having been hybridised with African lions. The African lion plan started in 1993, and focused on the South African population, although there are difficulties in assessing the genetic diversity of captive lions because most individuals are of unknown origin, making the maintenance of genetic diversity a problem.[11] Breeding programs need to note origins to avoid breeding different subspecies and thus reducing their conservation value.[199] Several Asiatic-African lion crosses, however, have been bred.[200]

text: The former popularity of the Barbary lion as a zoo animal means captive lions are likely descended from Barbary lion stock. This includes lions at Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent, England, that are descended from animals owned by the King of Morocco.[201] Another eleven animals thought to be Barbary lions kept in Addis Ababa Zoo are descendants of animals owned by Emperor Haile Selassie. WildLink International in collaboration with Oxford University launched an ambitious International Barbary Lion Project with the aim of identifying and breeding Barbary lions in captivity for eventual reintroduction into a national park in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco.[202]

text: Interactions with humans

text: In captivity

text: Lions are part of a group of exotic animals that have been central to zoo exhibits since the late 18th century; members of this group are invariably large vertebrates and include elephants, rhinoceroses, hippopotamuses, large primates and other big cats; zoos sought to gather as many of these species as possible.[203] Although many modern zoos are more selective about their exhibits,[203] there are more than 1,000 African and 100 Asiatic lions in zoos and wildlife parks around the world. They are considered an ambassador species and are kept for tourism, education and conservation purposes.[204] Lions can reach an age of over 20 years in captivity; Apollo, a resident lion of Honolulu Zoo in Honolulu, Hawaii, died at age 22 in August 2007. His two sisters, born in 1986, were still alive in August 2007.[205]

text:
At the ancient Egyptian cities of Taremu and Per-Bast were temples dedicated to the lion goddesses of Egypt, Sekhmet and Bast, and at Taremu there was a temple dedicated to the son of the deity Maahes the lion prince, where lions were kept and allowed to roam within the temple. The Greeks called the city Leontopolis ("City of Lions") and documented that practice.
Lions were kept and bred by Assyrian kings as early as 850 BC,[170] and Alexander the Great was said to have been presented with tame lions by the Malhi of northern India.[206] In Ancient Rome, lions were kept by emperors to take part in the gladiator arenas or were used for executions (see bestiarii, damnatio ad bestias, and venatio). Roman notables including Sulla, Pompey and Julius Caesar often ordered the mass slaughter of hundreds of lions at a time.[207] In India, lions were tamed by Indian princes. Marco Polo reported that Kublai Khan kept lions.[208]

text: The first European "zoos" spread among noble and royal families in the 13th century, and until the 17th century were called seraglios; at that time they came to be called menageries, an extension of the cabinet of curiosities. They spread from France and Italy during the Renaissance to the rest of Europe.[209] In England, although the seraglio tradition was less developed, lions were kept at the Tower of London in a seraglio established by King John in the 13th century;[210][211] this was probably stocked with animals from an earlier menagerie started in 1125 by Henry I at his hunting lodge in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, where according to William of Malmesbury lions had been stocked.[212]

text: Seraglios served as expressions of the nobility's power and wealth; animals – particularly big cats and elephants – symbolised power and were pitted against each other or domesticated animals in fights. By extension, menageries and seraglios served as demonstrations of the dominance of humanity over nature; the defeat of such natural "lords" by a cow in 1682 astonished spectators and the flight of an elephant before a rhinoceros drew jeers. The frequency of such fights slowly declined in the 17th century with the spread of menageries and their appropriation by commoners. The tradition of keeping big cats as pets lasted into the 19th century, at which time it was seen as highly eccentric.[213]

text: The presence of lions at the Tower of London was intermittent, being restocked when a monarch or his consort, such as Margaret of Anjou the wife of Henry VI, either sought or were given animals. Records indicate animals in the Tower of London were kept in poor conditions in the 17th century, in contrast to more open conditions in Florence at the time.[214] The menagerie was open to the public by the 18th century; admission was a sum of three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog for feeding to the lions.[215] A rival menagerie at the Exeter Exchange also exhibited lions until the early 19th century.[216] The Tower menagerie was closed by William IV,[215] and the animals were transferred to London Zoo, which opened to the public on 27 April 1828.[217]

text: The trade in wild animals flourished alongside improved colonial trade of the 19th century; lions were considered fairly common and inexpensive. Although they would barter higher than tigers, they were less costly than larger or more difficult-to-transport animals such as the giraffe and hippopotamus, and much less than giant pandas.[218] Like other animals, lions were seen as little more than a natural, boundless commodity that was mercilessly exploited with terrible losses in capture and transportation.[219] The widely reproduced imagery of the heroic hunter chasing lions would dominate a large part of the century.[220] Explorers and hunters exploited a popular Manichean division of animals into "good" and "evil" to add thrilling value to their adventures, casting themselves as heroic figures. This resulted in big cats being always suspected of being man-eaters, representing "both the fear of nature and the satisfaction of having overcome it".[221]

text: Lions were kept in cramped and squalid conditions at London Zoo until a larger lion house with roomier cages was built in the 1870s.[222] Further changes took place in the early 20th century when Carl Hagenbeck designed enclosures with concrete "rocks", more open space and a moat instead of bars, more closely resembling a natural habitat. Hagenbeck designed lion enclosures for both Melbourne Zoo and Sydney's Taronga Zoo; although his designs were popular, the use of bars and caged enclosures prevailed in many zoos until the 1960s.[223] In the late 20th century, larger, more natural enclosures and the use of wire mesh or laminated glass instead of lowered dens allowed visitors to come closer than ever to the animals; some attractions such as the Cat Forest/Lion Overlook of Oklahoma City Zoological Park placed the den on ground level, higher than visitors.[11]

text: Hunting, baiting and taming

text: Lion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal pastime. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an ancient Egyptian inscription dated circa 1380 BC that mentions Pharaoh Amenhotep III killing 102 lions "with his own arrows" during the first ten years of his rule. The Assyrians would release captive lions in a reserved space for the king to hunt; this event would be watched by spectators as the king and his men, on horseback or chariots, killed the lions with arrows and spears. Lions were also hunted during the Mughal Empire, where Emperor Jahangir is said to have excelled at it. Royal hunting of lions was intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature.[224]

text: The Maasai people have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts.[225] During the European colonisation of Africa, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered as vermin and lion hides fetched £1 each.[226] Trophy hunting of lions in recent years has been met with controversy; the killing of Cecil the lion in mid-2015 by an American tourist created a significant international backlash against the hunter and of the practice of hunting lions.[227]

text: Lion-baiting is a blood sport involving the baiting of lions in combat with other animals, usually dogs. Records of it exist in ancient times through until the seventeenth century. It was finally banned in Vienna by 1800 and England in 1835.[228][229]

text: Lion taming refers to the practice of taming lions for entertainment, either as part of an established circus or as an individual act such as Siegfried & Roy. The term is also often used for the taming and display of other big cats such as tigers, leopards and cougars. The practice began in the early 19th century by Frenchman Henri Martin and American Isaac Van Amburgh, who both toured widely and whose techniques were copied by a number of followers.[230] Van Amburgh performed before Queen Victoria in 1838 when he toured Great Britain. Martin composed a pantomime titled Les Lions de Mysore ("the lions of Mysore"), an idea that Amburgh quickly borrowed. These acts eclipsed equestrianism acts as the central display of circus shows and entered public consciousness in the early 20th century with cinema. In demonstrating the superiority of human over animal, lion taming served a purpose similar to animal fights of previous centuries.[230] The ultimate proof of a tamer's dominance and control over a lion is demonstrated by the placing of thje tamer's head in the lion's mouth. The now-iconic lion tamer's chair was possibly first used by American Clyde Beatty (1903–1965).[231]

text: Man-eating

text: Lions do not usually hunt humans but some – usually males – seem to seek them out. One well-publicised case is the Tsavo maneaters; in 1898, 28 officially recorded railway workers building the Kenya-Uganda Railway were taken by lions over nine months during the construction of a bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya.[232] The hunter who killed the lions wrote a book detailing the animals' predatory behaviour; they were larger than normal and lacked manes, and one seemed to suffer from tooth decay. The infirmity theory, including tooth decay, is not favoured by all researchers; an analysis of teeth and jaws of man-eating lions in museum collections suggests that while tooth decay may explain some incidents, prey depletion in human-dominated areas is a more likely cause of lion predation on humans.[233]

text: In their analysis of man-eating – including the Tsavo incident – Kerbis Peterhans and Gnoske acknowledge that sick or injured animals may be more prone to man-eating but that the behaviour is "not unusual, nor necessarily 'aberrant'" where the opportunity exists; if inducements such as access to livestock or human corpses are present, lions will regularly prey upon human beings. The authors note the relationship is well-attested among other pantherines and primates in the fossil record.[234]

text: The lion's proclivity for man-eating has been systematically examined. American and Tanzanian scientists report that man-eating behaviour in rural areas of Tanzania increased greatly from 1990 to 2005. At least 563 villagers were attacked and many eaten over this period – a number far exceeding the Tsavo attacks. The incidents occurred near Selous National Park in Rufiji District and in Lindi Province near the Mozambican border. While the expansion of villages into bush country is one concern, the authors argue conservation policy must mitigate the danger because in this case, conservation contributes directly to human deaths. Cases in Lindi in which lions seize humans from the centres of substantial villages have been documented.[235] Another study of 1,000 people attacked by lions in southern Tanzania between 1988 and 2009 found that the weeks following the full moon, when there was less moonlight, were a strong indicator of increased night-time attacks on people.[236]

text: According to Robert R. Frump, Mozambican refugees regularly crossing Kruger National Park, South Africa, at night are attacked and eaten by lions; park officials have said man-eating is a problem there. Frump said thousands may have been killed in the decades after apartheid sealed the park and forced refugees to cross the park at night. For nearly a century before the border was sealed, Mozambicans had regularly crossed the park in daytime with little harm.[237]

text: Packer estimates between 200 and 400 Tanzanians are killed each year by wild animals and that lions are thought to kill at least 70 of these. According to Packer between 1990 and 2004, lions attacked 815 people in Tanzania and killed 563. Packer and Ikanda are among the few conservationists who believe western conservation efforts must take account of these matters because of ethical concerns about human life and the long-term success of conservation efforts and lion preservation.[235]

text: A man-eating lion was killed by game scouts in Southern Tanzania in April 2004. It is believed to have killed and eaten at least 35 people in a series of incidents covering several villages in the coastal Rufiji Delta region.[238] Dr Rolf D. Baldus, the GTZ wildlife programme coordinator, said it was likely that the lion preyed on humans because it had a large abscess beneath a cracked molar and wrote, "This lion probably experienced a lot of pain, particularly when it was chewing".[239] As in other cases this lion was large, lacked a mane, and had a tooth problem.

text: The "All-Africa" record of man-eating generally is considered to be a collection of incidents between the early 1930s and the late 1940s in modern-day Tanzania inflicted by a pride known as the "Njombe lions". Game warden and hunter George Rushby eventually dispatched the pride, which over three generations is thought to have killed and eaten 1,500 to 2,000 people in Njombe district.[240]

text: Sometimes, Asiatic lions may become man-eaters. The area of the Gir sanctuary is now insufficient to sustain their large number[241] and lions have moved outside it, making them a potential threat to people in and around the park. Two attacks on humans were reported in 2012 in an area about 50–60 km (31–37 mi) from the sanctuary.[58][242][243]

text: Cultural significance

text: The lion is one of the most widely recognised animal symbols in human culture. It has been extensively depicted in sculptures and paintings, on national flags, and in contemporary films and literature.[57] It appeared as a symbol for strength and nobility in cultures across Europe, Asia and Africa, despite incidents of attacks on people. The lion has been depicted as "king of the jungle" and "king of beasts", and thus became a popular symbol for royalty and stateliness.[245]

text: Depictions of lions are known from the Upper Paleolithic period. Carvings and paintings of lions discovered in the Lascaux and Chauvet Caves in France have been dated to 15,000 to 17,000 years old.[246][244] A lioness-headed ivory carving found in Vogelherd cave in the Swabian Alb, south-west Germany, is dubbed Löwenmensch (lion-human) in German. The sculpture has been dated to least 32,000 years old – and as early as 40,000 years ago – [247]and originated from the Aurignacian culture.[21]

text: Africa

text: The ancient Egyptians portrayed several of their war deities as lionesses,[245] which they revered as fierce hunters.[245] Egyptian deities associated with lions include: Bast, Mafdet, Menhit, Pakhet, Sekhmet, Tefnut and the Sphinx.[245] In Egypt, the avenging goddess Sekhmet, represented as a lioness, symbolized the heat of the sun. The lion was also believed to act as a guide to the underworld, through which the sun was believed to pass each night. The presence of lion-footed tombs found in Egypt and images of mummies carried on the backs of lions suggests this close association of the lions with the underworld.[248]

text: In Sub-Saharan Africa, cultural views of the lion have varied by region. In some cultures, the lion symbolises power and royalty, and some rulers had the word "lion" in their nickname. For example, Marijata of the Mali Empire was given the name "Lion of Mali".[249] Njaay, the founder of the Waalo kingdom, is said to have been raised by lions and returned to his people part-lion to unite them using the knowledge he learned from the lions. In parts of West Africa, to be compared with a lion was considered to be a great compliment. Lions were considered the top class in these cultures' social hierarchies.[250] In more heavily forested areas where lions were rare, the leopard represented the top of the hierarchy.[251]

text: In parts of West and East Africa, the lion is associated with healing and is regarded as the link between seers and the supernatural. In other East African traditions, the lion is the symbol of laziness.[250] In many folktales, lions are portrayed as having low intelligence and are easily tricked by other animals.[249] Although lions were commonly used in stories, proverbs and dances, they rarely featured in visual arts.[251]

text: Near East

text: The lion was a prominent symbol in ancient Mesopotamia from Sumer up to Assyrian and Babylonian times, where it was strongly associated with kingship.[252] Lions were among the major symbols of the goddess Inanna/Ishtar.[253][254] The Lion of Babylon was the foremost symbol of the Babylonian Empire.[255] The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is a famous sequence of Assyrian palace reliefs from c. 640 BC, now in the British Museum.[256] In Meopotamia, the lion was linked with the fertility goddess Ishtar and the supreme Mesopotamian god Marduk. The theme of the royal lion hunt, a common motif in the early iconography in West Asia, symbolized death and resurrection; the continuation of life was ensured by the killing of a god-like animal. In some stone reliefs depicting the Royal hunt of lions, the lion's divinity and courage are equated with the divinity and courage of the king.[257]

text: The lion is the biblical emblem of the tribe of Judah and the later Kingdom of Judah.[258] Lions are frequently mentioned in the Bible; notably in the Book of Daniel in which the eponymous hero refuses to worship King Darius and is forced to sleep in the lions' den where he is miraculously unharmed (Dan 6). In the Book of Judges, Samson kills a lion as he travels to visit a Philistine woman.(Judg 14). The power and ferocity of the lion is invoked when describing the anger of God (Amos 3:4–8, Lam 3:10) and the menace of Israel's enemies (Psm 17:12, Jer 2:30) and Satan (1 Pet 5:8). The book of Isaiah uses the imagery of a lion laying with a calf and child, and eating straw to portray the harmony of creation (Isa 11:6–7). In the Book of Revelation, a lion, an ox, a man and an eagle are seen on a heavenly throne in John's vision;(Rev 4:7) the early Christian Church used this image to symbolise the four gospels, the lion symbolising the Gospel of Mark.[259]

text: Far East

text: In the Puranic texts of Hinduism, Narasimha ("man-lion") a half-lion, half-man incarnation or avatar of Vishnu, is worshipped by his devotees and saved the child devotee Prahlada from his father, the evil demon king Hiranyakashipu;[260] Vishnu takes the form of half-man, half-lion] creature in Narasimha, where he has a human torso and lower body, and a lion-like face and claws.[261] Singh is an ancient Indian vedic name meaning "lion", dating back over 2,000 years in ancient India. It was originally used only by Rajputs, a Hindu Kshatriya or military caste. After the birth of the Khalsa brotherhood in 1699, the Sikhs also adopted the name "Singh" due to the wishes of Guru Gobind Singh. Along with millions of Hindu Rajputs today, it is also used by over 20 million Sikhs worldwide.[262]

text: The Asiatic lion is found as an emblem on numerous flags and coats of arms across Asia and Europe, including on the National Emblem of India.[263] The Asiatic lion is also symbolic for the Sinhalese,[264] Sri Lanka's ethnic majority; the term derived from the Indo-Aryan Sinhala, meaning the "lion people" or "people with lion blood", while a sword-wielding lion is the central figure on the national flag of Sri Lanka.[265]

text: The Asiatic lion is a common motif in Chinese art; it was first used in art during the late Spring and Autumn period (fifth or sixth century BC) and became more popular during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) when imperial guardian lions started to be placed in front of imperial palaces for protection. Because lions have never been native to China, early depictions were somewhat unrealistic; after the introduction of Buddhist art to China in the Tang Dynasty after the sixth century AD, lions were usually depicted wingless with shorter, thicker bodies and curly manes.[266] The lion dance is a traditional dance in Chinese culture in which performers in lion costumes mimic a lion's movements, often with musical accompaniment from cymbals, drums and gongs. They are performed at Chinese New Year, the August Moon Festival and other celebratory occasions for good luck.[267]

text: Singapore derives its name from the Malay words singa (lion) and pora (city/fortress), which in turn is from the Tamil-Sanskrit சிங்க singa सिंह siṃha and पुर புர pura, which is cognate to the Greek πόλις, pólis.[268] According to the Malay Annals, this name was given by a fourteenth-century Sumatran Malay prince Sang Nila Utama, who, on alighting the island after a thunderstorm, spotted an auspicious beast that appeared to be a lion on the shore.[269]

text: Europe

text: The lion is featured in several of Aesop's fables, which were written in the sixth century BC.[270] The Nemean lion was symbolic in ancient Greece and Rome, represented as the constellation and zodiac sign Leo, and described in mythology, where its skin was borne by the hero Heracles.[271] Myths which have a hero killing a lion, such as the one in which Herakles slays the Nemean lion, symbolize victory over death. Similarly the wearing of lion skin such as the lion skin worn by Herackles also symbolizes victory over death.[248]

text: "Lion" was the nickname of several medieval warrior-rulers with a reputation for bravery, such as the English King Richard the Lionheart,[245] Henry the Lion, (German: Heinrich der Löwe), Duke of Saxony, William the Lion, King of Scotland, and Robert III of Flanders was nicknamed "The Lion of Flanders" – a major Flemish national icon.

text: Lions are frequently depicted on coats of arms, either as a device on shields or as supporters, but the lioness is used much less frequently.[272] The formal language of heraldry, called blazon, employs French terms to describe the images precisely. Such descriptions specify whether lions or other creatures are "rampant" (rearing) or "passant" (crouching).[273]

text: Modern culture

text: The lion is used as a symbol of sporting teams, from national association football teams such as England, Scotland and Singapore to famous clubs such as the Detroit Lions[274] of the NFL, Chelsea[275] and Aston Villa, a team of the English Premier League,[276] and by the Premiership itself, Eintracht Braunschweig of the Bundesliga, and many smaller clubs around the world.

text: Lions continue to appear in modern literature as characters including the messianic Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and following books from The Chronicles of Narnia series written by C. S. Lewis,[277] and the comedic Cowardly Lion in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.[278] Lion synmbolism was used from the advent of cinema; one of the most iconic and widely recognised lions is Leo, which has been the mascot for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) studios since the 1920s.[279] The 1960s saw the appearance of the Kenyan lioness Elsa in the movie Born Free,[280] which is based on the factual book of the same title.[281] The lion's role as king of the beasts has been used in cartoons, such as the 1994 Disney animated feature film The Lion King.[282]


document_title: Geography of Canada

question_text: how many geographical regions are there in canada

root

text: Geography of Canada

text: Climate[edit]

text: Canada has a diverse climate. The climate varies from temperate on the west coast of British Columbia[4] to a subarctic climate in the north.[5] Extreme northern Canada can have snow for most of the year with a Polar climate.[6] Landlocked areas tend to have a warm summer continental climate zone[7] with the exception of Southwestern Ontario which has a hot summer humid continental climate.[8] Parts of Western Canada have a semi-arid climate, and parts of Vancouver Island can even be classified as cool summer Mediterranean climate.[6] Temperature extremes in Canada range from 45.0 °C (113 °F) in Midale and Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937 to −63.0 °C (−81.4 °F) in Snag, Yukon on Monday, February 3, 1947.[9]

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text:
Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Canada

City
July (°C)
July (°F)
January (°C)
January (°F)

Calgary[10]
23/9
73/48
2715 !−1/−13
5735 !27/5

Charlottetown[11]
23/14
78/54
−3/−13
26/9

Edmonton[12]
23/12
73/54
2213 !−8/−17
4831 !18/1

Fredericton[13]
26/13
78/54
−4/−16
25/4

Halifax[14]
23/14
73/58
0/-9
32/17

Iqaluit[15]
12/4
53/39
−23/−31
−9/−23

Montreal[16]
26/16
79/60
−5/-12
22/6

Ottawa[17]
27/15
80/60
−6/−15
21/5

Quebec City[18]
25/13
77/56
−8/-18
18/0

Regina[19]
26/11
79/52
−10/-22
14/-8

Saskatoon[20]
25/11
77/52
−12/-22
10/-8

St. John's[21]
20/11
69/51
−1/−9
30/17

Toronto[22]
26/18
80/64
−1/−7
30/19

Whitehorse[23]
21/8
69/46
−13/−22
8/−8

Windsor[24]
28/17
82/63
−1/-8
30/17

Winnipeg[25]
26/13
79/55
−13/−20
9/−4

Vancouver[26]
22/13
71/54
6/1
43/33

Victoria[27]
22/11
71/51
7/1
44/33

Yellowknife[28]
21/12
70/54
−23/−31
−9/−24

tag: table

text: Physical geography[edit]

text: Canada covers 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,100 sq mi) 9,984,670 km2 (3,855,103 sq. miles) and a panoply of various geoclimatic regions. There are 8 main regions.[29] Canada also encompasses vast maritime terrain, with the world's longest coastline of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi).[30] The physical geography of Canada is widely varied. Boreal forests prevail throughout the country, ice is prominent in northerly Arctic regions and through the Rocky Mountains, and the relatively flat Canadian Prairies in the southwest facilitate productive agriculture.[29] The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.

text: Appalachian Mountains[edit]

text: The Appalachian mountain range extends from Alabama through the Gaspé Peninsula and the Atlantic Provinces, creating rolling hills indented by river valleys.[31] It also runs through parts of southern Quebec.[31]

text: The Appalachian mountains (more specifically the Notre Dame and Long Range Mountains) are an old and eroded range of mountains, approximately 380 million years in age. Notable mountains in the Appalachians include Mount Jacques-Cartier (Quebec, 1,268 m or 4,160 ft and Mount Carleton (New Brunswick, 817 m or 2,680 ft).[32] Parts of the Appalachians are home to a rich endemic flora and fauna and are considered to have been nunataks during the last glaciation era.

text: Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands[edit]

text: The southern parts of Quebec and Ontario, in the section of the Great Lakes (bordered entirely by Ontario on the Canadian side) and St. Lawrence basin (often called St. Lawrence Lowlands), is another particularly rich sedimentary plain.[34] Prior to its colonization and heavy urban sprawl of the 20th century, this Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests area was home to large mixed forests covering a mostly flat area of land between the Appalachian Mountains and the Canadian Shield.[35] Most of this forest has been cut down through agriculture and logging operations, but the remaining forests are for the most part heavily protected. In this part of Canada the Gulf of St. Lawrence is one of the world's largest estuary (see Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests).[36]

text: While the relief of these lowlands is particularly flat and regular, a group of batholites known as the Monteregian Hills are spread along a mostly regular line across the area.[37] The most notable are Montreal's Mount Royal and Mont Saint-Hilaire. These hills are known for a great richness in precious minerals.[37]

text: Canadian Shield[edit]

text: The northeastern part of Alberta, northern parts of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, as well as most of Labrador (the mainland portions of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador), are located on a vast rock base known as the Canadian Shield. The Shield mostly consists of eroded hilly terrain and contains many lakes and important rivers used for hydroelectric production, particularly in northern Quebec and Ontario. The shield also encloses an area of wetlands, the Hudson Bay lowlands. Some particular regions of the Shield are referred to as mountain ranges, including the Torngat and Laurentian Mountains.[38]

text: The Shield cannot support intensive agriculture, although there is subsistence agriculture and small dairy farms in many of the river valleys and around the abundant lakes, particularly in the southern regions. Boreal forest covers much of the shield, with a mix of conifers that provide valuable timber resources in areas such as the Central Canadian Shield forests ecoregion that covers much of Northern Ontario. The region is known for its extensive mineral reserves.[38]

text: The Canadian Shield is known for its vast minerals, such as emeralds, diamonds and copper. The Canadian shield is also called the mineral house.

text: Canadian Interior Plains[edit]

text: The Canadian Prairies are part of a vast sedimentary plain covering much of Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, and southwestern Manitoba, as well as much of the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Slave and Great Bear lakes in Northwest Territories. The plains generally describes the expanses of (largely flat) arable agricultural land which sustain extensive grain farming operations in the southern part of the provinces. Despite this, some areas such as the Cypress Hills and the Alberta Badlands are quite hilly and the prairie provinces contain large areas of forest such as the Mid-Continental Canadian forests. The size is roughly ~1,900,000 km2 (733,594.1 sq mi).

text: Western Cordillera[edit]

text: The Canadian Cordillera, contiguous with the American cordillera, is bounded by the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

text: The Canadian Rockies are part of a major continental divide that extends north and south through western North America and western South America. The Columbia and the Fraser Rivers have their headwaters in the Canadian Rockies and are the second and third largest rivers respectively to drain to the west coast of North America. To the west of their headwaters, across the Rocky Mountain Trench, is a second belt of mountains, the Columbia Mountains, comprising the Selkirk, Purcell, Monashee and Cariboo Mountains sub-ranges.

text: Immediately west of the Columbia Mountains is a large and rugged Interior Plateau, encompassing the Chilcotin and Cariboo regions in central British Columbia (the Fraser Plateau), the Nechako Plateau further north, and also the Thompson Plateau in the south. The Peace River Valley in northeastern British Columbia is Canada's most northerly agricultural region, although it is part of the Prairies. The dry, temperate climate of the Okanagan Valley in south central British Columbia provides ideal conditions for fruit growing and a flourishing wine industry; the semi-arid belt of the Southern Interior also includes the Fraser Canyon, and Thompson, Nicola, Similkameen, Shuswap and Boundary regions and fruit-growing is common in these areas also, and also in the West Kootenay. Between the plateau and the coast is the province's largest mountain range, the Coast Mountains. The Coast Mountains contain some of the largest temperate-latitude icefields in the world.

text: On the south coast of British Columbia, Vancouver Island is separated from the mainland by the continuous Juan de Fuca, Georgia, and Johnstone Straits. Those straits include a large number of islands, notably the Gulf Islands and Discovery Islands. North, near the Alaskan border, Haida Gwaii lies across Hecate Strait from the North Coast region and to its north, across Dixon Entrance from Southeast Alaska. Other than in the plateau regions of the Interior and its many river valleys, most of British Columbia is coniferous forest. The only temperate rain forests in Canada are found along the Pacific Coast in the Coast Mountains, on Vancouver Island, and on Haida Gwaii, and in the Cariboo Mountains on the eastern flank of the Plateau.

text: The Western Cordillera continues northwards past the Liard River in northernmost British Columbia to include the Mackenzie and Selwyn Ranges which lie in the far western Northwest Territories and the eastern Yukon Territory. West of them is the large Yukon Plateau and, west of that, the Yukon Ranges and Saint Elias Mountains, which include Canada's and British Columbia's highest summits, Mount Saint Elias in the Kluane region and Mount Fairweather in the Tatshenshini-Alsek region. The headwaters of the Yukon River, the largest and longest of the rivers on the Pacific Slope, lie in northern British Columbia at Atlin and Teslin Lakes.

text: Volcanoes[edit]

text: Western Canada has many volcanoes and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, a system of volcanoes found around the margins of the Pacific Ocean. There are over 200 young volcanic centres that stretch northward from the Cascade Range to Yukon. They are grouped into five volcanic belts with different volcano types and tectonic settings. The Northern Cordilleran Volcanic Province was formed by faulting, cracking, rifting, and the interaction between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The Garibaldi Volcanic Belt was formed by subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate. The Anahim Volcanic Belt was formed as a result of the North American Plate sliding westward over the Anahim hotspot. The Chilcotin Group is believed to have formed as a result of back-arc extension behind the Cascadia subduction zone. The Wrangell Volcanic Field formed as a result of subduction of the Pacific Plate beneath the North American Plate at the easternmost end of the Aleutian Trench.

text: Volcanism has also occurred in the Canadian Shield. It contains over 150 volcanic belts (now deformed and eroded down to nearly flat plains) that range from 600 million to 2.8 billion years old. Many of Canada's major ore deposits are associated with Precambrian volcanoes. There are pillow lavas in the Northwest Territories that are about 2.6 billion years old and are preserved in the Cameron River Volcanic Belt. The pillow lavas in rocks over 2 billion years old in the Canadian Shield signify that great oceanic volcanoes existed during the early stages of the formation of the Earth's crust. Ancient volcanoes play an important role in estimating Canada's mineral potential. Many of the volcanic belts bear ore deposits that are related to the volcanism.

text: Canadian Arctic[edit]

text: While the largest part of the Canadian Arctic is composed of seemingly endless permafrost and tundra north of the tree line, it encompasses geological regions of varying types: the Arctic Cordillera (with the British Empire Range and the United States Range on Ellesmere Island) contains the northernmost mountain system in the world. The Arctic Lowlands and Hudson Bay lowlands comprise a substantial part of the geographic region often designated as the Canadian Shield (in contrast to the sole geologic area). The ground in the Arctic is mostly composed of permafrost, making construction difficult and often hazardous, and agriculture virtually impossible.

text: The Arctic, when defined as everything north of the tree line, covers most of Nunavut and the northernmost parts of Northwest Territories, Yukon, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and Labrador.

text: Hydrography[edit]

text: Canada holds vast reserves of water: its rivers discharge nearly 9% of the world's renewable water supply,[39] it contains a quarter of the world's wetlands, and it has the third largest amount of glaciers (after Antarctica and Greenland). Because of extensive glaciation, Canada hosts more than two million lakes: of those that are entirely within Canada, more than 31,000 are between 3 and 100 square kilometres (1.2 and 38.6 sq mi) in area, while 563 are larger than 100 km2 (38.6 sq mi).[40]

text: Rivers[edit]

text: Canada’s two longest rivers are the Mackenzie, which empties into the Arctic Ocean and drains a large part of northwestern Canada, and the St. Lawrence, which drains the Great Lakes and empties into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The Mackenzie is over 4,200 km (2,600 mi) in length while the St. Lawrence is over 3,000 km (1,900 mi) in length. Rounding out the ten longest rivers within Canada are the Nelson, Churchill, Peace, Fraser, North Saskatchewan, Ottawa, Athabasca and Yukon rivers.[41]

text: Drainage basins[edit]

text: The Atlantic watershed drains the entirety of the Atlantic provinces (parts of the Quebec-Labrador border are fixed at the Atlantic Ocean-Arctic Ocean continental divide), most of inhabited Quebec and large parts of southern Ontario. It is mostly drained by the economically important St. Lawrence River and its tributaries, notably the Saguenay, Manicouagan and Ottawa rivers. The Great Lakes and Lake Nipigon are also drained by the St. Lawrence. The Churchill River and Saint John River are other important elements of the Atlantic watershed in Canada.[42]

text: The Hudson Bay watershed drains over a third of Canada. It covers Manitoba, northern Ontario and Quebec, most of Saskatchewan, southern Alberta, southwestern Nunavut and the southern half of Baffin Island. This basin is most important in fighting drought in the prairies and producing hydroelectricity, especially in Manitoba, northern Ontario and Quebec. Major elements of this watershed include Lake Winnipeg, Nelson River, the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers, Assiniboine River, and Nettilling Lake on Baffin Island. Wollaston Lake lies on the boundary between the Hudson Bay and Arctic Ocean watersheds and drains into both. It is the largest lake in the world that naturally drains in two directions.[42]

text: The continental divide in the Rockies separates the Pacific watershed in British Columbia and Yukon from the Arctic and Hudson Bay watersheds. This watershed irrigates the agriculturally important areas of inner British Columbia (such as the Okanagan and Kootenay valleys), and is used to produce hydroelectricity. Major elements are the Yukon, Columbia and Fraser rivers.[42]

text: The northern parts of Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia, most of Northwest Territories and Nunavut, and parts of Yukon are drained by the Arctic watershed. This watershed has been little used for hydroelectricity, with the exception of the Mackenzie River, the longest river in Canada. The Peace, Athabasca and Liard Rivers, as well as Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake (respectively the largest and second largest lakes wholly enclosed by Canada) are significant elements of the Arctic watershed. Each of these elements eventually merges with the Mackenzie, thereby draining the vast majority of the Arctic watershed.[42]

text: The southernmost part of Alberta drains into the Gulf of Mexico through the Milk River and its tributaries. The Milk River originates in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, then flows into Alberta, then returns into the United States, where it is drained by the Missouri River. A small area of southwestern Saskatchewan is drained by Battle Creek, which empties into the Milk River.[42]

text: Floristic geography[edit]

text: Canada has produced a Biodiversity Action Plan in response to the 1992 international accord; the plan addresses conservation of endangered species and certain habitats. The main biomes of Canada are:

text:
Tundra
Boreal forest
Mixed forest
Broadleaf forest
Prairies
Rocky Mountains, vegetation includes various types of tundra and forests
Temperate coniferous forests, of which the Temperate rain forests of coastal British Columbia is an example.

tag: ul

text: Political geography[edit]

text: Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. According to Statistics Canada, 72.0 percent of the population is concentrated within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the nation's southern border with the United States, 70.0% live south of the 49th parallel, and over 60 percent of the population lives along the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River between Windsor, Ontario and Quebec City. This leaves the vast majority of Canada's territory as sparsely populated wilderness; Canada's population density is 3.5 people/km2 (9.1/mi2), among the lowest in the world. Despite this, 79.7 percent of Canada's population resides in urban areas, where population densities are increasing.[citation needed]

text: Canada shares with the U.S. the world's longest undefended border at 8,893 kilometres (5,526 mi); 2,477 kilometres (1,539 mi) are with Alaska. The Danish island dependency of Greenland lies to Canada's northeast, separated from the Canadian Arctic islands by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait. The French islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon lie off the southern coast of Newfoundland in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and have a maritime territorial enclave within Canada's Exclusive Economic Zone. Canada also shares a land border with Denmark, as maps released in December 2006 show that the agreed upon boundaries run through the middle of Hans Island.[43]

text: Canada's geographic proximity to the United States has historically bound the two countries together in the political world as well. Canada's position between the Soviet Union (now Russia) and the U.S. was strategically important during the Cold War since the route over the North Pole and Canada was the fastest route by air between the two countries and the most direct route for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Since the end of the Cold War, there has been growing speculation that Canada's Arctic maritime claims may become increasingly important if global warming melts the ice enough to open the Northwest Passage.

text: Similarly, the disputed—and tiny—Hans Island (with Denmark), in the Nares Strait between Ellesmere Island and northern Greenland, may be a flashpoint for challenges to overall claims of Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic.[43]

text: Natural resources[edit]

text: Canada's abundance of natural resources is reflected in their continued importance in the economy of Canada. Major resource-based industries are fisheries, forestry, agriculture, petroleum products and mining.

text: The fisheries industry has historically been one of Canada's strongest. Unmatched cod stocks on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland launched this industry in the 16th century. Today these stocks are nearly depleted, and their conservation has become a preoccupation of the Atlantic Provinces. On the West Coast, tuna stocks are now restricted. The less depleted (but still greatly diminished) salmon population continues to drive a strong fisheries industry. Canada claims 22 km (12 nmi) of territorial sea, a contiguous zone of 44 km (24 nmi), an exclusive economic zone of 370 km (200 nmi) and a continental shelf of 370 km (200 nmi) or to the edge of the continental margin.

text: Forestry has long been a major industry in Canada. Forest products contribute one fifth of the nation's exports. The provinces with the largest forestry industries are British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec. Fifty-four percent of Canada's land area is covered in forest. The boreal forests account for four-fifths of Canada's forestland.

text: Five per cent of Canada's land area is arable, none of which is for permanent crops. Three per cent of Canada's land area is covered by permanent pastures. Canada has 7,200 square kilometres (2,800 mi2) of irrigated land (1993 estimate). Agricultural regions in Canada include the Canadian Prairies, the Lower Mainland and various regions within the Interior of British Columbia, the St. Lawrence Basin and the Canadian Maritimes. Main crops in Canada include flax, oats, wheat, maize, barley, sugar beets and rye in the prairies; flax and maize in Western Ontario; Oats and potatoes in the Maritimes. Fruit and vegetables are grown primarily in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Southwestern Ontario, the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, along the south coast of Georgian Bay and in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. Cattle and sheep are raised in the valleys and plateaus of British Columbia. Cattle, sheep and hogs are raised on the prairies, cattle and hogs in Western Ontario, sheep and hogs in Quebec, and sheep in the Maritimes. There are significant dairy regions in central Nova Scotia, southern New Brunswick, the St. Lawrence Valley, northeastern Ontario, southwestern Ontario, the Red River valley of Manitoba and the valleys in the British Columbia Interior, on Vancouver Island and in the Lower Mainland.

text: Fossil fuels are a more recently developed resource in Canada, with oil and gas being extracted from deposits in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin since the mid 1900s. While Canada's crude oil deposits are fewer, technological developments in recent decades have opened up oil production in Alberta's Oil Sands to the point where Canada now has some of the largest reserves of oil in the world. In other forms, Canadian industry has a long history of extracting large coal and natural gas reserves.

text: Canada's mineral resources are diverse and extensive. Across the Canadian Shield and in the north there are large iron, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, and uranium reserves. Large diamond concentrations have been recently developed in the Arctic, making Canada one of the world's largest producers. Throughout the Shield there are many mining towns extracting these minerals. The largest, and best known, is Sudbury, Ontario. Sudbury is an exception to the normal process of forming minerals in the Shield since there is significant evidence that the Sudbury Basin is an ancient meteorite impact crater. The nearby, but less known Temagami Magnetic Anomaly has striking similarities to the Sudbury Basin. Its magnetic anomalies are very similar to the Sudbury Basin, and so it could be a second metal-rich impact crater.[44] The Shield is also covered by vast boreal forests that support an important logging industry.

text: Canada's many rivers have afforded extensive development of hydroelectric power. Extensively developed in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Labrador, the many dams have long provided a clean, dependable source of energy.

text: Natural hazards[edit]

text: Continuous permafrost in the north is a serious obstacle to development. Cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains.

text: Current environmental issues[edit]

text: Air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affects lakes and damages forests.[45] Metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impact agricultural and forest productivity. And ocean waters are becoming contaminated from agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities.[45]

text: Global climate change and the warming of the polar region will likely cause significant changes to the environment, including loss of the polar bear,[46] the exploration for resource then the extraction of these resources and an alternative transport route to the Panama Canal through the Northwest Passage.

text: Extreme points[edit]

text: The northernmost point within the boundaries of Canada is Cape Columbia, Ellesmere Island, Nunavut 83°06′40″N 69°58′19″W / 83.111°N 69.972°W / 83.111; -69.972 (Cape Columbia, Nunavut).[47] The northernmost point of the Canadian mainland is Zenith Point on Boothia Peninsula, Nunavut 72°00′07″N 94°39′18″W / 72.002°N 94.655°W / 72.002; -94.655 (Zenith Point, Nunavut).[48]

text: The southernmost point is Middle Island, in Lake Erie, Ontario (41°41′N, 82°40′W); the southernmost water point lies just south of the island, on the Ontario–Ohio border (41°40′35″N). The southernmost point of the Canadian mainland is Point Pelee, Ontario 41°54′32″N 82°30′32″W / 41.909°N 82.509°W / 41.909; -82.509 (Point Pelee, Ontario).[49]

text: The westernmost point is Boundary Peak 187 (60°18′22.929″N, 141°00′7.128″W) at the southern end of the Yukon–Alaska border which is roughly following 141°W but leans very slightly east as it goes North 60°18′04″N 141°00′36″W / 60.301°N 141.010°W / 60.301; -141.010 (Boundary Peak 187).[50][51]

text: The easternmost point is Cape Spear, Newfoundland (47°31′N, 52°37′W) 47°31′23″N 52°37′08″W / 47.523°N 52.619°W / 47.523; -52.619 (Cape Spear, Newfoundland).[52] The easternmost point of the Canadian mainland is Elijah Point, Cape St. Charles, Labrador (52°13′N, 55°37′W) 52°13′01″N 55°37′16″W / 52.217°N 55.621°W / 52.217; -55.621 (Elijah Point, Labrador).[53]

text: The lowest point is sea level at 0 m, whilst the highest point is Mount Logan, Yukon, at 5,959 m / 19,550 ft 60°34′01″N 140°24′18″W / 60.567°N 140.405°W / 60.567; -140.405 (Mount Logan, Yukon).[54]

text: The Canadian pole of inaccessibility is allegedly near Jackfish River, Alberta (Latitude: 59°2′ 60 N, Longitude: 112°49′ 60 W).

text: The furthest straight-line distance that can be travelled to Canadian points of land is between the northwest tip of Ivvavik National Park (at Clarence Lagoon) and Cripple Cove, NL (near Cape Race) at a distance of 2,785.13 nautical miles (5,158.06 km; 3,205.07 mi).