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Animal Themes
Mammals

Lions

Lions
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 3 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.48

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    authority, despite, gestation, hence, lioness, mating, merely, northwestern, reserve, scavenge, tuft, visually, immediately, successful, pregnant, association
     content words:    Sahara Desert

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Lions   
1     If you get to pick one animal to rule the animal kingdom, which animal will you choose? Undoubtedly, most of us, if not all, will immediately cast our vote to the King of Beasts - the lion! Indeed, not many animals can match the strong, forceful image that lions project.
 
2     Shaking their heads and letting out a loud roar audible more than 5 miles away, male lions have striking hairy manes around their heads and shoulders. Standing about 4 feet tall, male lions measure nearly 8 feet long (not including their 3-foot long tails) and weigh between 330 and 550 pounds. They have a tuft at the tip of their tails. The color of the tuft is darker than that of the rest of their bodies. By comparison, female lions (or lionesses) do not own manes and have more petite builds (averaging 3.5 feet tall, 5 feet long, and less than 400 pounds). They also don't have tufted tails.
 
3     Though lions are members of the cat family, they are not loners. They like to do things in groups, called "prides" for female lions or "coalitions" for male lions. Typically, a pride consists of about 15 lionesses and their cubs (young). All lionesses of the same pride are related. A coalition is comprised of 2-6 male lions that may or may not be related. With a loose association between the two groups, lionesses of the pride mate, hunt, and share food with lions of the coalition. From time to time, the authority of the coalition is challenged by another coalition. When that happens, lions of the existing coalition must fight hard to defend both their territory and their claim over the pride. If they lose, they must leave and try to find another pride. Shockingly, during the turnover of power, the new coalition will attempt to kill cubs bred by the previous coalition!

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