african lion - ZAWA-Evolved/ZAWA GitHub Wiki

(image by ClimbableChunky)

The African lion is a large felid. Native to sub-saharan Africa, lions are the only cat species that lives and hunts in large social groups.

In real life, African lions are one of two extant species: its cousin, the Asiatic lion, has an incredibly limited and threatened population, and another, the barbary lion, is extinct.

Spawning and taming

African lions are a rare spawn in dry savanna biomes. They spawn in prides of 4 lions. Male lions are rare, and represent only 20% of wild spawns. Male lions can be easily identified from a distance by their thick neck mane.

Lions are medium-speed, aggressive animals and will attempt to prey on the player. Lions display pack behavior, and if one lion in a group goes after a target, others will follow. They pursue prey until it is dead, and will actively chase a player until they can no longer reach them.

Because of their size, high health, aggression and tendency to roam in groups, lions are a serious challenge to capture. Keepers should be sure to bring a tranquilizer gun and enough darts to subdue several lions to prevent being blindsided. Lions can only be captured and transported with capture cages.

Lions can be tamed with carnivore kibble.

Care

African lions have 16 hearts (32 points) of health, can deal 4 hearts (8 points) of damage, and drop 2 medium meat and 2 bones upon death.

Lions are large animals with high food needs. They eat a large carnivore diet, consisting of fresh large animal prey. Because of their difficult diet, exacerbated by their need to live in groups, keeping lions can be a difficult task for beginner keepers.

African lions can use boomer ball, scented ball, scratching post, heat rock and beef ice treat enrichment items.

Lions are a high fertility species, and can be bred with large meat. As large-sized animals they have a gestation time of 72000 ticks, and give birth to 2-4 cubs that will take 6 minecraft days to reach adulthood.

Exhibit building

(note: exhibit building sections contain a mix of gameplay information and building advice. Not all recommendations are necessary to keep animals happy, fed, and watered, but can help players build a realistic enclosure.)

African lions live in prides of 5-10 animals, with one adult male and several females.

Their large meat diet, social needs, and potential danger to keepers and guests make African lions a tough cat to keep. Keepers should make sure they have a large, secure enclosure capable of safely holding up to ten big cats at once, and ideally plan a method of contactless feeding. Hungry or bored lions will immediately maul players, so it is recommended that players feed them using a dispenser or through a trapdoor.

As large carnivores, lions do not do well in mixed exhibits and should not be housed with any animal they can prey on. Hungry lions may escape enclosures to attack other tamed zoo animals, so be careful when picking neighbors.

Lions are poor climbers, but can still scale hills and landscape features to jump out of enclosures. Be mindful of rock, tree, and other feature heights when building. Keepers should put an inside overhang on all fences, and make sure all moats and pits are at least 3 blocks deep. Preventing visitors from entering enclosures is also a necessity, and posting danger signs is always a safe bet. Wire fences keep large animals in while still allowing keepers and visitors to see the animals.

Lions like to rub up against and scratch scratching posts and trees, so consider placing them and planting thematically-appropriate acacia. When in a pride, lions are playful with each other and like to "play hunt," so whether they're hiding from each other or from excessively noisy guests, johnson grass and elephant grass are welcome additions to any lion pen.

When designing shelter buildings and keeper areas, consider building a double gate. Double gates, or "airlocks," prevent animals from escaping out a single door. Remember when building shelters that lions are a social species, and make room for the whole pride to get indoors comfortably.

Variants

Lions have 4 natural variants: Himba, Zulu, Samburu, and Masai. Leucistic, a solid white variant, is breed-only and does not spawn naturally. These are in-game coloe variants, not real subspecies!