CINCINNATI ZOO GUIDE 
of life are concerned, there is but little difference. On the 
contrary, the cat, the leopard, the jaguar, the tiger and the lion 
possess so many similar characteristics of form and action that 
they are included together, with other close kin among animals 
in one great family — the cat tribe. Of a strictly carnivorous 
nature, relentlessly destructive in their methods of obtaining 
food, the structure is of that character that enables them to 
gratify the merciless instincts of their nature. The house cat 
waits in hiding for the mouse, and seeing it, pounces upon it, 
kills it and devours it. The leopard, the tiger, the lion pursue 
exactly similar methods in surprising, capturing and killing 
their prey. And nature has supplied them with all the essentials 
of structure for so doing. Their bones, though fitted for the 
attachment of a powerful muscular organism, are light. Their 
muscles and tendons are hard. They are light, stealthy and 
noiseless of foot, so that oftentimes the first warning of danger 
that the victim has is the cruel pain of the teeth of the silent 
enemy fastened in his quivering flesh. 
The Lion (Felis leo). The lion is called “the King of Beasts/’ 
He is given this name by those who regard him as the superior 
of all other animals in point of bravery and ferocity. He adds 
to the possession of a fear-inspiring form and the proud mien of 
a monarch, the ownership of a loud and terrible voice, whose 
reverberating roar seems almost to shake the earth. The lion, 
notwithstanding these awe-inspiring characteristics, is not so 
dangerous as he seems. Some animals kill simply for the 
pleasure of killing. The lion kills only in self-defense or to 
secure food. He lies in ambush for his prey. He is nervous and 
easily abashed. He will attack any kind of animal, no matter 
how large. This is remarkable, considering that his average 
height is less than four feet, and his length eleven feet, tip to 
tip. The lioness is not so large. 
At present they are found in Africa and southern Asia. They 
vary in size, color and appearance, but there is not much 
difference between the African and Asiatic lions. The color 
varies from a deep-red chestnut brown to a silver gray. The 
color of the lion, blending so perfectly with the landscape as it 
does, often protects him from discovery and enables him to 
approach nearer to his doomed though unsuspected prey. They 
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