
They tend to avoid the part of the prey from which the lion is eating.Īccording to “Prey preferences of the lion ( Panthera leo)” by Hayward et al., lions prefer the following animals: After killing a prey a lion consumes first and others in the pride eat after or with him. They feed mostly on the flesh of wild animals. What do lions eat in the wild?Īs it is said earlier lions are carnivorous animals. Lions prefer them the most! A mammal weighing 190-550 kg is not a big deal for them. Generally, large mammals such as horses, tapirs, rhinoceroses, cattle, pigs, giraffes, deer, and hippopotamus are called ungulates. Ungulate is a biological term that means “hoofed animals”. Lions hunt mainly mammals and they particularly prefer ungulates. There is no need to assist him in his venture.Ī lioness hunts with the group but not a lion! He goes solo in the wilderness, grabs his prey, and kills it with ease. A lion doesn’t hunt along with the group. That’s why they are generally seen more hungry after completing a hunt. It can be said that the spirit of hunting boosts a lion’s appetite. However, they need a significant amount of energy during hunting and killing an animal. There is a difference between need and greed.įor their greedy attitude, they eat up to 30 kg of meat in just one season! If a lion can’t eat that much, he takes a nap for a few hours. In the case of adult lions, they require 7 kg of meat on an average. However, an adult lioness requires an average of 5 kg of meat each day. Otherwise, they stick to their spot and take rest. Lions are generally not that hungry all the time. Now, let’s quickly know about the diet of the lions, the die-hard non-vegetarians!Ī price of wild lions feeding How much food lions need? Yes, they eat too much meat!įrom the two points mentioned above, it is clear what should be in the daily diet of a lion. So, lions are carnivorous but they have this feature in excess. The prefix “hyper” added to “carnivorous” refers to “something in excess”. For this reason, a lion is called a hyper carnivorous animal. They are hypercarnivores: Lion, a hypercarnivoreĪ lion eats more than 70% of meat in his diet. Put simply, lions just want meat and aren’t that picky when choosing their prey to hunt or scavenge – hunting whatever is available, unlike specialist species. This behaviour makes lions a generalist species.

They are generalists: Lions are different from most other carnivores as they’re able and willing to adapt their diets to their environment. Lions are, of course, carnivorous animals that need meat. Before going to this section directly, let’s quickly know about what lions should eat to sustain themselves. Still, the question remains what lions actually eat in those 50 minutes. It’s estimated that lions spend just 50 minutes eating each day on average (though they may not actually eat every day). In a 24 hour period lions famously sleep and rest for 20 of these hours, leaving them four hours each day to fit in their other activities of hunting, eating, and socializing.


The short answer to ‘what do lions eat?’ is ‘a lot’ – both in terms of variety and amount.īut despite their fearsome looks, 20% hunting success rate, and need for around 8kg of meat per day, these apex predators don’t spend too much time eating.
