Common Name: African lion
Scientific Name: Panthera leo
Description:
The African lion is most known for the striking mane of the male lion
which varies from shades of tawny to black. Males may weigh up to 250
kg. Lions have been tracked at speeds between 50 and 60 km/h and leaps
of 12 m are reported. Lions exhibit several distinct calls communicating
information between members of a pride and indicating territorial ownership
of an area. The roar of the lion may carry up to 3 km. Although an individual
cat has not accounted for great numbers of human deaths, lions have been
known 
to
attack human populations. Between 1932 and 1947, approximately 2,000 deaths
were attributed to one pride of lions in East Africa. You can read an
account of it in Capstick's Maneaters.
And two male lions ceased operations on a railway project by preying on
the workers' camps. (See links on man-eaters of Tsavo below. You can also
read a first hand account in Patterson's Man-Eaters
of Tsavo.) By far and away, however, "the" book to have
on lions is George Schaller's "Serengeti
Lion." You can also listen to an hour long interview with George
Schaller here.
Range:
Portions of Northern Africa with densest populations in Central and East
Africa. 
Approximately,
10,000 years ago a type of lion was found in North America and the upper
reaches of South America, Eurasia and Africa. Recently, the lion ranged
into Europe as recently as 2,000 years ago and was found in Palestine
as recently as the era of the Crusades. The subspecies persica remains
in the Gir forest in the Gujarat State of western India.
Habitat: Grassy plains, open woodlands, and savannah.
Diet: Carnivorous: prey ranges from rodents to 500 kg mammals regularly including antelope, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest. Research indicates between 1 in 4 and 1 in 6 stalks yield successful kills. In some areas, large percentages the lion's diet is initially acquired by hyenas. At a kill, the males take first rights for the carcass, then the females. No special allowances are given for subadults and cubs. Partially because of this, infant mortality is as high as 80% in the first two years.
Social Life:
The lion is the most social of all the big cats. Groups called prides
range in size from
half a dozen to over thirty individuals. The group consists mainly of
females
and juveniles with a smaller number of adult males who share the responsibility
of protecting the pride. The males generally have about three years with
the pride before they are contested for their pride by another group of
males. Females in a pride stay with the pride as they mature while males
leave the pride when reaching maturity. Maturity is reached between three
and four years with longevity up to the early teens. Captive individuals
have reached 29 years of age. National
Geographic has an intense video of lion life including a pride take over.
Called Lions
of Darkness, it is a grippingly real look at lion life.
Conservation: The African lion is listed by the IUCN as Vulnerable for the East and South subspecies and Endangered for the West African subspecies. It is listed as Appendix II by CITES. Currently West Africa is said to hold less than 1,000 individuals, East Africa approximately 10,000, and South Africa over 10,000.
Recommended LINKS & BOOKS
Africam's Field Guide page on lions.
Quality photography of lions in Africa.
Click here to see live images from Africa. You can even win prizes for the best picture!
Great resource page on lions including the man-eaters of Tsavo
Chicago's Field Museum's Man-eaters of Tsavo online exhibit.
World Conservation Union's lion information
Information
on lions from Richard Estes first edition of his book Safari Companion
at this
link. 
Safari Companion is a great book to have and it's just been updated. And if you're planning a trip to Africa, make sure to read this first and then bring it with you! It's that good. Click here to buy.
Dr. David Macdonald's Encyclopedia of Mammals is one of the great standards for mammal information including the big cats. Purchase it through Amazon.com by clicking on the photo to help the zoo!
Another excellent text on African mammals is The Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals.