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　　One look at a big male lion, with its beautiful hair and proud walk, and it is easy to understand why lions are called the “king of beasts”．Their strength and beauty have interested people for ages．Lions occur in the stories of almost all cultures－even in parts of the world where there have never been lions．In some parts of Africa, poorly armed tribes men once killed lions to gain their strength．Lions are certainly among the most admired animals on earth．

　　Female lions work together when hunting．The team divides into two groups．One group silently circles around to get ahead of the prey．When the first group is in position, the second group shows itself and purposely frightens the prey．The frightened prey runs right into the first group of lions．Most lions can cover 35 feet through the air in a single jump, and they use their sharp claws and teeth to seize frightened animals．A lion is so strong it can easily knock down and hold down the prey that is three times bigger than itself．When they can, lions get food by taking it away from other animals．

　　Lions are meat eaters．They prefer larger prey because larger prey provides more unaveailable meat．More often, lions hunt animals of a large size．If their regular prey is unavailable, they will eat hares or tortoises．A starving lion will eat almost anything it can find including snake, insects, fruit, sometimes even wood．

　　Lion babies need lots of loving care．At birth, babies are blind, can only crawl, and weigh less than five pounds．For the first few weeks, the babies stay hidden away from the pride．Then their mother brings them out to join the “family”．A male lion will show amazing love toward the babies, even allowing them to pull his hair．Like cats, lion babies jump to anything that moves, and in this way practice hunting skills．When the mother is away hunting, other lions feed and watch over her young．

　　Lions are found today in only a few parts of the world．They live in small areas of Africa and in a very small section of India．In the past, lions lived almost all over the world on every continent except Antarctica and Australia．African lions are now ?endangered?．This is because people are taking away their homes．The human population in Africa is growing so rapidly that it is necessary to turn more and more of the lion’s homes into farms．This means lions have less food to eat, and makes their survival more difficult．