Fast facts -- The big cats!

Lion

-- With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, the lion is the second-largest living cat after the tiger.

-- Lions will rarely eat their entire kill. The remainders go to hyenas and vultures. A male lion will eat first, even though it's the female lions who make the kill.

-- After it eats, a thirsty lion may take a drink lasting up to 30 minutes.

-- Lions are the most social of all cats. A pride of lions may contain up to 40 members, with over half being young adults and cubs.

-- When an animal is killed, lions will eat virtually every part of it-the skin, meat, intestines, even the eyeballs. But they don't eat the stomach. It must smell bad to lions because they often bury it.

-- Lions are by far the loudest of the cats, with a roar that can be heard as far away as 5 or 6 miles. A lion is incapable of roaring until it is about 2 years old.