Experience the lion’s admirable splendor, strolling majestically across the savannah
Imagine the savannah’s perhaps most powerful animal, the Lion, when the safari jeep comes very close to the lion’s pristine aesthetic surroundings. The sight of the lion guarding its lion cubs or lionesses in search of a meal is breathtaking. A lion safari must take place on the lion’s own home field, where it can really unfold – namely Africa.
With a lion safari at Kipling Travel, you have the opportunity to experience the king of the savannah in its best nature – a majestic animal, which in its admirable splendor is so breathtaking that most people will lose their temper when they see it. For it is absolutely in nature that the lion must be experienced.
There is no doubt when you see the almost three meter long mammal lying and beating its belly in the shade under the acacia trees. The lion is at the top of the food chain on the savannah and by far the largest predator on the African savannah.
The lion is part of “The Big Five” and is a must see when you go on safari in Tanzania . Which is understandable since the lion is almost the epitome of Africa.
Meet perhaps the greatest lion subspecies on lion safaris, with a trip to Tanzania . Kipling Travel has many years of experience with safaris in Africa and with lion safaris in Tanzania you can meet the lions’ perhaps largest living subspecies – the Masail lion. The large predator goes by the Latin name Panthera leo and today eight subspecies are recognized, five of which live in Africa, one in India and two are extinct.
The pompous family members you can meet on lion safaris
The Masai Lion
According to softwareleverage.org, the Masai lion, also known as the East African lion, is a subspecies that includes several earlier subspecies such as Massaica, which was originally from Tanzania. Today, the lion is found in East Africa, from Ethiopia and Kenya to Tanzania and Mozambique. The characteristic of this lion is that it is less densely built, with longer legs and less curved backs than other subspecies. The male lion is generally 2.5 to 3 meters long and weighs between 145 to 205 kg, while female lions are between 2.3 to 2.6 meters long and weigh 100 to 165 kg. The mane is often smaller, but is known for its many variations of mane and their moderate tufts of hair on the knee joint.
The West African Lion
There also goes under the Senegalese lion, living in the West African countries. The persistence is small and fragmented, and consists of no more than 1800 in all of West and Central Africa, and is considered an endangered species. Research suggests that this subspecies forms another group of lions that is more related to the Asian lions. The lion is smaller than lions from southern Africa and the magnificent mane is meanwhile also a lot smaller or almost non-existent.
Congo lion
The Congo lion, or Uganda lion, is a lion subspecies from northeastern Belgian Congo and the western part of Uganda. The Congo lion is one of the most endangered subspecies, and encountering it can be difficult but is thought to be possible in Central Africa. The information about it is meanwhile also limited, but it is said to be an extremely well-built lion.
Kantanga lion
Katanga lion, or the Southwest African lion, lives in Southwest Africa and is one of the largest lion subspecies along with the Masai lion. They are characterized by the males having lighter manes than other subspecies. The species is classified as endangered and gained global media attention in 2015 after an American dentist killed a well-known Katanga lion, named Cecil, in Zimbabwe.
Transvaal lion
The Transvaal Lion, also known as the Southeast African Lion, is found in the Transvaal region of southeastern Africa, including 2000 in the Kruger National Park. The male Southeast African lion usually has a well-developed mane, and most of them have a black mane. The presence of a recessive gene in this subspecies can give the lion a whitish coat. The white lion is therefore a color mutation of Transvaal lions. These are rare and are found in a few game reserves or mostly in zoos around the world.
The Atlas Lion
The atlas lion was one of the largest lion subspecies, whose males could reportedly be 3 to 3.3 meters long and weigh more than 200 kg. The lion, also known as the Nubain lion and the Berber lion, became extinct in the first half of the 20th century in the wild due to immeasurable hunting. The atlas lion had the most luxurious and extensive mane among the lion species, with lures on the sides and down the belly.
The Cape Lion
This lion subspecies became extinct in the wild around 1860. It is possible that the Cape Lion was identical to the still existing Transvaal lion, which simply lived further south. It is unclear how wide the lion was, but lived especially in the Cape Province in the area around Cape Town. The males had a huge mane that stretched behind their shoulders and covered the abdomen while being characterized by its black ear tips. It is said to be large compared to other lions south of the Sahara, but smaller than the North African lion.
The Asian lion
The Asian lion, also known as the Indian lion or Persian lion, was once widespread from Turkey, across Southwest Asia to Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The large herds of lions were attractive and easy targets for poachers, which has resulted in them now being an endangered subspecies. There are about 500 that do not live wild anywhere other than in Gir forest national park in India. These lions are much smaller than the African lions, but the most striking characteristic, for Asian lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin that runs on the abdominal skin.