THE SURVIVAL TASK INTRODUCTION Many civilize nations have use Lion to symbolize power, courage and nobility

on family crests, coats of arms and national flags, history has it that lion were at one time found from Greece through the Middle East to northern India, but only a very small population remains in India today. Lions lived in most parts of Africa in the past, but are now confined to the subSaharan region. The uniqueness of the male Lion among the other big cat species is extra-ordinary because of their brown or black thick mane hair that surrounds the head and neck. And from 8 kilometers away is a roaring sound that is heard, and it is made by the male and female lion. Lion and its habitation Though there are lions that live in mountain region (mountain Lions) but then, they are mainly found in savannas, grasslands, dense bush and woodlands. Another great uniqueness of this big cat is the Lion-tails found among macaques that are limited to Habitation in the tropical wet evergreen forest. There also occur wider ranges of habitat type that are modest sympatry with bonnet macaques.

Behavior

Teamwork, division of labor and an extended but close Family ties is a really exceptionally characteristics of a Lion that separate it from the other species of the big cat, the average number to a pride clan is made of about 15 individual: 5 to 10 females, their young, and 2 or 3 territorial males. Due the fact that a nursing lioness will come into heat a few weeks after the loss of cubs, and the males with newly won prides will often kill existing cub, there is usually brothers or pride mates who have formed a coalition to protect their females. This protection plan enables the young cub to sire on their own. Lots of touching, head rubbing, licking and purring is one of the ways that Lion enjoy resting and expressing the fellowship with each other.

Most mothers develop interest in carefully nurture for the young cubs called litters, that most consist of 2 or 3 cubs that weigh about 3 pounds each, and some mothers might seems to

care less about their cob. And this mostly happens when there is scarcity of food. In a pride, two or more female give birth at the same time and raise the cub together, and this enable an abandon cub by a mother to suckle from another mother for survival. A Lion has the live span of 13-14 year, 2 years of old Lion are capable of hunting for themselves and they are fully grown between 5- 6 years old.

FOOD Having prey as large as a buffaloes, rhinos, hippos and giraffes for their food, is has a result of cooperate hunting, Lion sometimes over take other carnivores to scavenge for food, (50% of their diet). According to a research, almost 85-90% of the hunting is done by the females. The prey are driven to an ambush set up the Lionesses, equal sharing is not a negotiation among a pride and due to prey scarcity at times a high mortality rate occur, since some hungry females denied sharing their cubs.

Lions in arid areas can go without water for about 4-5 days, as a result of moisture collected from the prey in their stomach, but most of them drink water daily if available.

LION Threats Lions faced many threats in the wild and has long been killed in rituals of bravery and these include habitat loss and degradation, a reduction in their natural prey base, Human-wildlife conflict (trophy hunting). The current and the greatest threat face by Lions are habitat loss and conflicts with humans. Habitat loss and degradation: Lack of conversation and park reserved has cause Lion to flea for their lives, and the presence of Lions in their most pleasantly habitat is decreasing. One of the ways that the king of the wild cope with this kind of pressure from this factor is looking for another habitation thus creating habitat loss and degradation in their most favorable regions. Large scale resource extraction, road building and urbanization occur within the range of Lion habitation, disturbance by human who own and graze livestock also contribute to this factor.

Reduction in their natural prey base: Since Lions feed on other animal for survival and are not naturally scared of human, most wildlife, including lions; migrate seasonally between national parks and dispersal areas on communal village lands - where lions are subject to retaliatory killing by pastoralists due to livestock predation. This factor has also been contributed by humans. Human-wildlife conflict (trophy hunting): Since human conflict is one of the major threats that lion face in the wild, this factor is attributed through a lot of many cases like wild life hunting for trophies. Though most of the times Lion might not be the primary target for this hunter but during the course of the trial, lions are most times in danger if these hunters move into the areas where Lions are present. Counter Measure for Survival: though several government bodies have put in effort to preserving the wild, human still prove a threat to lion and other animal living in the wild. And not withstand Lions have develop several counter measure of protecting their pride, so the short and long term goal is avoiding human presence in their territory. Summary A magnificent, charismatic, and awesome beast, so is the Lion as many people will often refer to. It is one of the largest big cats, and due to their fierce predator they are widely respected. The lion has a grand presence and there will be increase in population if some of these counter measures are taken to notice. Though Lion are not naturally meant to be scared, they are now because of the increase rate of human presence in their habitat that has place great pressure on them. According to researchers, there have been a decreasing number in the big cat population in most countries.