Lions
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97 free Lions trivia questions with answers — nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free lions trivia questions with answers. Did you know that a lion's roar can be heard from 5 miles away? Test your knowledge about these magnificent big cats with our comprehensive 97-question lions quiz. Discover surprising facts about their social behavior, hunting strategies, and role in ecosystems.
30 of 97 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How long does a lion typically live in the wild, as opposed to in a zoo?
12-17 years
12-17 years in the wild; in captivity they can pass twenty, and three sibling lions at Honolulu Zoo reached 22 in 2007.
Q 02What is the primary role of male lions in a pride?
Defending territory
Defending territory is the males' main job: they patrol the edges of the pride range, roar and scent-mark, and fight off rival coalitions, while the lionesses do most of the hunting.
Q 03At roughly what age does a male lion's mane reach its full size?
Around 4 years
Around 4 years: the mane starts growing when testosterone rises in adolescence and is full-sized by about age four, though almost all males in Benin's Pendjari National Park stay maneless or nearly so.
Q 04For roughly how much of each day are lions inactive?
About 20 hours
About 20 hours of rest leaves an average of two hours a day walking and fifty minutes eating.
Q 05What top speed did a 2018 study record for a running lion?
About 46 mph (74 km/h)
About 46 mph (74 km/h) was the top speed recorded in a 2018 study; typical hunting bursts are only 30-37 mph, so lions stalk to within a short distance before charging.
Q 06How far can a lion's roar be heard?
Up to 5 miles (8 km)
Up to 5 miles (8 km): a lion's roar carries that far across open savanna, mostly at night, and advertises the pride's territory to rivals and scattered pride members.
Q 07What is the typical size of a lioness's litter?
1-4 cubs
Litters are 1-4 cubs, born in a thicket, reed-bed or cave away from the pride; the mother moves them to a new den several times a month so scent does not build up.
Q 08What commonly befalls a pride's young cubs when a rival coalition ousts the resident males?
The new male often kills them
The new male often kills them: lionesses do not come back into oestrus until their cubs mature or die, so infanticide brings them back into breeding condition sooner for the new coalition.
Q 09What is the approximate weight of an adult male African lion?
330-550 lbs (150-250 kg)
330-550 lbs (150-250 kg) is the adult male range; females weigh roughly 265-400 pounds, and among cats only the tiger is larger.
Q 10Male lions with which mane trait have greater reproductive success and hold their place in a pride longer?
Darker manes
Darker manes: in Serengeti studies dark-maned males held prides longer and sired more surviving cubs, carrying higher testosterone but suffering more heat stress; cool zoo climates also produce heavier manes.
Q 11In which Indian state can you find the last remaining wild Asiatic lions?
Gujarat
Gujarat: the Gir Forest and surrounding Saurashtra districts are the Asiatic lion's only wild home; a 2020 census counted 674 lions, and the state long resisted relocating any to Madhya Pradesh.
Q 12How long is a lioness pregnant?
About 110 days
About 110 days: lion gestation runs roughly 100-115 days, after which the lioness gives birth in a secluded den away from the pride.
Q 13Which country's Serengeti National Park holds the largest lion population in Africa?
Tanzania
Tanzania: the Serengeti ecosystem holds around 3,000 lions, the largest population on the continent; a 1994 canine distemper outbreak there killed roughly a third of the park's lions.
Q 21Which Egyptian goddess has the head of a lioness?
Sekhmet
Sekhmet, the lioness-headed warrior goddess of Memphis whose name means 'She Who Is Powerful', was also a goddess of plague and healing.
Q 22The Lion of Judah was the hereditary title of which country's Solomonic emperors?
Ethiopia
Ethiopia: the Solomonic dynasty claimed descent from Solomon and the Queen of Sheba through the tribe of Judah, and Haile Selassie styled himself Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.
Q 23Which king, crowned in 1189, was called 'the Lionheart' for his reputation as a warrior?
Richard I
Richard I, crowned at Westminster in September 1189, earned the name Coeur de Lion for his prowess as a commander; his second great seal of 1198 introduced the three lions passant guardant.
Q 14Lion cubs are born with what markings, which fade as they grow up?
Dark spots
Faint spots can persist on the legs and underparts into adulthood; the tail tuft, by contrast, is absent at birth and only appears at about five and a half months.
Q 15What may be hidden inside the dark tuft at the tip of some lions' tails?
A small hard spur
A small hard spur, roughly 5 mm long, lies hidden in the tail tuft of some lions; the tuft itself only appears at about five months of age, and the spur's function is unknown.
Q 16What is the IUCN Red List conservation status of the African lion?
Vulnerable
Vulnerable: the IUCN assessment found lion numbers fell about 43 percent between 1993 and 2014, driven by habitat loss, prey depletion, and conflict with people.
Q 17Roughly how many lions are estimated to remain in the wild?
About 20,000
About 20,000: most estimates put wild lions at 20,000-25,000, down from the roughly 200,000 Norman Myers estimated in 1975, with the steepest losses in West and Central Africa.
Q 18Which famous lion was controversially killed by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe in 2015?
Cecil
Cecil, a black-maned Hwange National Park lion wearing a research collar, was shot with an arrow by American dentist Walter Palmer in July 2015 and killed hours later; Palmer was never charged.
Q 19What is a 'coalition' in lion social behavior?
A group of male lions who band together
Serengeti research found nomadic coalitions gain residency in a pride between 3.5 and 7.3 years of age, and larger coalitions hold territory longer.
Q 20How long do young male lions typically stay with their birth pride before being expelled?
2-3 years
2-3 years: young males leave or are driven from their birth pride as they near maturity, then spend years as nomads, often in a coalition of brothers, before winning a pride of their own.
Q 24Three lions appear on the coat of arms of which country's football (soccer) team?
England
England: the three lions passant guardant, taken from the royal arms, have been on the shirt since the first international against Scotland in 1872, and the Euro 96 anthem 'Three Lions' fixed the nickname.
Q 25What famous real-life lioness became the subject of the book and film 'Born Free'?
Elsa
Elsa was the lioness Joy and George Adamson raised in Kenya after George shot her mother in self-defence in 1956; her two sisters went to Rotterdam Zoo while Elsa was taught to hunt and released.
Q 26What is the Swahili word for lion, famously used in 'The Lion King'?
Simba
Simba is Swahili for lion; the film's other names are Swahili too, with rafiki meaning friend, pumbaa meaning foolish and hakuna matata meaning no worries.
Q 27Whose palace gates were guarded by winged, human-headed lions?
The Assyrians
The Assyrians: pairs of lamassu, winged bulls or lions with human heads, flanked palace gates at Nimrud, Khorsabad and Nineveh; the winged human-headed motif is older, recorded at Ebla around 3000 BC.
Q 28The Tsavo man-eaters were a pair of lions infamous for killing railway workers in which country?
Kenya
Kenya: the two maneless males killed workers building the Uganda Railway bridge over the Tsavo River in 1898 until Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson shot them; his book claimed 135 victims.
Q 29Which type of habitat do African lions primarily occupy?
Grasslands and savannas
Grasslands and savannas: lions favour open plains, scrub along rivers and open woodland with bushes, and are absent from rainforest and the interior of the Sahara.
Q 30Lion cubs are born blind; roughly how long after birth do their eyes open?
About 7 days
About 7 days: cubs are born blind and open their eyes around a week later; newborns weigh 1.2-2.1 kg, crawl a day or two after birth and walk at about three weeks.