At Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, we have around 92 animals a little bit less than half are going to be Tigers but we have other animals at our facility as well. We have bears, cougars, African servals, bobcats, jaguar, leopards and lions. Two male lions call TCWR home, and one of them is Simba
Simba
Simba is 16 years old, with his age, when there was room at our retirement area he got moved to Rescue Ridge. Rescue Ridge is an area that is flatter than our other enclosures on the tour loop. Our older and shy residents live at Rescue Ridge. Rescue Ridge was built in 2012 from our Mountainberg, AR rescue. It took us 128 days to build 20 habitats. We were able to rescue 28 out of 34 animals and we worked with other accredited facilities to give home to the other animals we couldn’t house at TCWR.
A Lions Pride
Lions are the only cat that live in a group. A group of lions is called a pride. It consists of 3-4 males and 10-12 females and their offspring. Male lions defend the pride by urinating and roaring loudly to warn other animals off. Females are the primary hunters and leaders of a pride. There is only one male that is typically going to be “King ” of the pride. The “King ” is determined by the color of their mane. A mane is long hair that encircles their head. A male’s mane can be dark or light in color. If the mane is dark in color then he has more testosterone and will be the “King” of the pride. If light in color mane then they have a less level of testosterone. Simba has a lighter color mane which means he would not be “King ” of the pride in the wild.
Africa
Lions habitat is grasslands, open wooded areas, scrubs, where they can easily hunt for prey. A lion’s historic range has disappeared by 94% of where they used to be. There are half as many lions today than 25 years ago. They are vulnerable to extinction. There are many factors that made lions on the list, including poachers, trophy hunting and people putting poison down.
What can you do
You can help with conservation efforts for the African Lion. Coming to visit TCWR and helping educate your friends and family of the animals we have also is helpful. You can help those organizations with educating people on how to live with lions or even donate to the cause.
