The size of this creature is something that is often over-exaggerated and so many people do not have a realistic understanding of the size of these majestic creatures.
The weight and height of lions can vary and are influenced by a number of different factors, but in this piece, we take a look at what the average size of a fully grown lion can be.
How Much A Lion Weighs
It may surprise you that lions are not the largest animal within the cat kingdom, the tiger is the largest cat species and lions are the second largest.
In the wild, a fully-grown lion can weigh up to 570-pounds if they have access to food and are thriving in its environment.
The least they could weigh in a good environment would be 330-pounds.
A fully-grown lioness can weigh up to 400-pounds, making them considerably lighter than most lions. The lightest they could weigh would be 270-pounds.
The weight of lions is hugely affected by their habitual environment.
If they have competitors for food they may not get to eat every day and this directly impacts their size.
If their habitat is affected by human activities this too can result in a lack of food sources and cause the lions to become malnourished and lead to death.
The weight of lions in captivity depends on the level of care they are receiving and the food they are fed.
What Lions Eat
Almost all wild lions can be found living in Africa in an area below the Sahara Desert.
As a result of this most lions live off the same diet, which primarily is made up of meat as these creatures are carnivores.
Lions hunt anything that is available to them in their natural habitat and so they can feed on anything from small prey birds or large animals such as giraffes and hippopotamuses.
Animals with a thick hyde are not off-limits as the lion has sharp and powerful teeth that help deliver killing bites when hunting so they can also eat crocodiles.
Smaller prey animals do make up the majority of their diet as they can successfully catch these animals, such as lizards, mice, and hogs.
Lions also turn to other members of the cat kingdom and can eat cheetahs.
Lions eat approximately three to four times a day and eat up to 7kg of meat.
If food sources are hard to come by then lions can go up to a week without eating and will hunt large prey and after a successful hunt could eat up to 50kg of meat in one sitting.
Both males and females can eat up to 15% of their body weight in one meal.
Lions tend to eat their food where they catch it, they don’t hide it or bring it to another location.
The pride comes together to feed on larger carcasses until no meat remains on the hunted animal.
When the pride eats together the alpha male eats first. When the rest of the pride can eat lionesses feed themselves before feeding scraps to their cubs.
Hyenas and cheetahs often try to steal food from lions so it is common that fights can occur around a carcass, and if the lions, hyenas, or cheetahs are killed then they too become part of the meal.
There is also a small population of lions that can be found in the Gir Forest National Park in western India and here lions eat much the same as their relatives in Africa, feeding off local prey and consuming up to 7kg of meat a day.
How Tall A Lion Is
There is not much of a difference between how tall a fully grown male and female lion typically can be.
The male lion can grow as long as 7-feet and their tails can be 3-feet long also. A fully-grown male lion can be up to 4-feet tall when standing.
Females are only slightly smaller and a fully-grown female can be up to 5-feet long and their tails tend to be shorter than the males. When standing they are usually between 2 to 3-feet tall.
How tall lions are can be impacted by malnutrition, if they cannot get as much food as they need each day they will not be able to grow as large as they can.
Often malnourished lions will be quite small and as a result, they are likely to become prey to other carnivores.
How Long Lions Live
The length of life that a lion has in the wild varies as it is affected by their natural habitat and also their access to food.
Lions that are thriving can live up to 16 years of age but after turning ten lions begin to become weaker and have to rely on their pride to provide for them.
Lionesses in the wild tend to live longer than their male counterparts and are cared for better as they are responsible for looking after their young who in turn look after them in their old age.
In captivity, both males and females live longer lives as they are provided with food every day so they are able to stay fit and healthy for longer.
They also don’t have any challenges in captivity that they would have in the wild. Lions in captivity die from natural causes, and usually, this is old age.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this piece has any questions you may have about how much a fully grown lion can weigh and also what height these gorgeous creatures can be.
As more subspecies of lions become extinct and critically endangered each year it is more important than ever that we educate ourselves about these animals to pass knowledge and stories down to future generations that may not have a world where these fierce felines exist.
Hi, my name is Joe Edwards and I am fascinated by the world of big cats. It all started when my family and I visited a safari park when I was six years old. I begged my parents to get me a stuffed lion as a memento, and later a book about big cats for Christmas.
Now, over 20 years later, I still can’t get enough of them!
