1. Preservation of
African Lions

2. ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
 What is an African Lion?
 What makes the African Lion so unique and
beautiful?
 Where does an African Lion come from?
 Why is it important to preserve the African Lion?
 What challenges or threats does the lion face?
 What is extinction and what effect does it have
on our eco-system?

3. LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Students will be able to understand the
importance of preserving the wild.
 Students will be able to identify, locate and
describe where the African Lion lives.
 Students will be able to define extinction and
understand it’s effects on the eco-system.
 Students will learn what an African Lion is and
how it lives.
 Students will be able to explain what makes a
Lion special and beautiful.

4. THE AFRICAN LION
 African Lions Live in
groups called PRIDES
 They are the only
member of the cat family
that lives in a group
 A pride usually includes
2 male lions, 12 females,
and their cubs
 The young males within
a pride eventually leave
to take over their own
pride headed by another
male

5. LET’S COMPARE! CLICK THE LINK AND LIST
THINGS YOU’VE LEARNED ABOUT EACH LION
A FEMALE LION A MALE LION
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmb_HtuugfY
 1.
 2.
 3.
1.
2.
3.

6. MALE FEMALE

7. BEAUTY OF A LION
 The body of a lion is
extremely muscular
 Including it’s tail a lion can
grow up to nine feet long
 A lion can weigh anywhere
from 265-420lbs
 Even with it’s great size and
weight the lion is very
difficult to hear coming
because of it’s unique soft
pads on it’s paws which
keep their movements quiet
 A lion can run up to 30
miles per hour on these
quiet paws!

8. HUNTING AT NIGHT
 Lions have extraordinary
eyes and are great
hunters at night
 The eyes of a lion contain
a reflective coating that
will even reflect moonlight
enabling them to see
every possible movement
in the dark
 Unlike humans who can
move their eyes from side
to side a lion needs to
move it’s head to see
things that aren’t in it’s
direct line of sight

9. SENSE OF SMELL
 Lions have a great sense of smell and use it
to mark their territory. This sense of smell
helps them find prey and also find kills
made by predators. They scare off the
predators and steal the meal. Lions steal
40% of all the food they eat! All lions
contain a Jacobson’s organ inside of their
mouth that they use to help them smell.
The lion will grimace opening it’s mouth to
let the air into the organ.

10. WHAT DOES A LION EAT?
Label the Animals
Word Bank
Leopard Baboon
Cheetah Antelope
Hyena Wildebeest
Zebra Giraffe
Name: Name: Name:
Name: Name: Name:
Name:Name:

11. LION HABITAT
African Lion Range
Use your Google Earth App on your IPAD or Google Earth on the internet to
locate some of the countries that the African Lion Range Falls into.

12. THE SAVANNAH
 The African Savannah is where you can
find most of the lions remaining in the
world. Africa has a wet season and dry
season. In the wet season there is an
average of 15-20 inches of rain. In the
dry season there is only an average of 4
inches of rain fall, and no rain at all from
December to February.
 There are 45 species of mammal in
Africa and some of them help to feed the
Lions.
 All of the mammals of the African
Savanna are co-dependent living out
their lives together in freedom as they
fight to survive.
 Within the Savannah lions enjoy scrub,
woodlands, or grasslands
 They like to also be near streams this
way they can catch prey off guard while
they stop for a drink
 Check out the
Savannah on this link!
 http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=lV_zhl0KKnc

13. PRESERVING THE LIONS
 Check out this video from National
Geographic!
 http://video.nationalgeographic.com
/video/player/animals/mammals-
animals/cats/animate-url-bci.html
 Lions have declined at alarming
rates. We had 100,000 lions in the
1980’s and now lion population is
down to about 20,000
 If we continue at the pace we are at
now, lions are doomed for extinction
within the next ten to fifteen years
 Take a look at this scary timeline
from the National Geographic!
 http://animals.nationalgeographic.co
m/animals/big-cats/lion-decline-
map/
 Poaching, hunting, and disease have
decimated the lion population.
 Many people hunt the animals
because the lions come on their land
and eat their animals.
 It is difficult for the lion population to
grow quickly because when a pride is
taken over by a male they kill all of
the cubs and it can take up to
18mnths to produce new cubs

14. LIONS FACE EXTINCTION
 Extinction- is the end of an organism or of a group of
organisms, normally a species. The moment of
extinction is generally considered to be the death of
the last individual of the species, although the
capacity to breed and recover may have been lost
before this point.
 Extinct is forever and never again will that specific
animal or organism roam the earth again.
 Check out these animals that you could have enjoyed
if only they were still around today by clicking the link
below.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRN1Cu_6zlM

15. REMEMBER ME!?
 I am the king of the
Jungle. I roam the earth
as the fiercest predator
alive.
 I am 42ft long and 13ft
tall.
 Extremely sharp teethe
line my mouth.
 The earth rumbles as I
walk on my two legs.
 My arms are small and
serve very little function.
 Who can I be?!
Click here for a hint!

16. I AM AN EXTINCT TYRANNOSAURAS REX
 Imagine how fascinating it
would be to go to the zoo
and see a T-Rex roaming
the forest
 Imagine if you could travel
the world to see living
dinosaurs eating, sleeping,
and prowling the jungle
 The only problem is this is
not possible. The only
place you can find a
dinosaur now is in a book,
on a website, or in the
movies
 This could happen to the
African Lion

17. WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN LIONS BECOME
EXTINCT?
 If lions become extinct it
will start a very large and
sweeping change in the
savannah.
 African lions control the
populations of many of
the animals such as
zebras, wildebeests,
giraffe, and antelope
 All of these animals are
herbivores and therefore
eat leaves and grass.
 If these animals
populations grow out of
control then their
eventually won’t be
enough food for these
animals causing mass
deaths in the savannah!
 Every animal is
connected to another
animals survival
 If the top of the food
chain goes extinct so will
most of the animals in it’s
habitat

18. OR
 It is time to
concentrate on
preservation and
conservation
 Humans can’t survive
without animals,
plants, or water
 If we continue at the
pace we are the
African Savannah can
turn into a parking lot

19. CULMINATING ACTIVITY
 Choose two of the letters
 A. You’re a male lion in the African Savannah. You’ve
just left your pride and are looking for your own.
Write a story about your trials and adventures using
the knowledge you’ve learned.
 B. Draw a picture of what you think the African
Savannah would look like if lions were extinct.
 C. Write a song that could be used to teach children
about the issues facing the lion today.
 D. Using the information you’ve learned create a
scene in a diorama involving a pride in the African
Savannah.