1 Lions are the only cats that are social rather than solitary. They usually live in groups called prides, which vary in composition but may occasionally include as many as 30 individuals. The lionesses do a considerable part of the hunting. There is no definite breeding season. They inhabit grasslands, scrubland, and semidesert areas, where they hunt antelope, zebra, and other large herbivorous animals, as well as domestic stock.
Lions also eat carrion.
In early historic times lions ranged over Eurasia from E Europe to India and over all of Africa. They were eliminated from Europe and the Middle East by the beginning of the 2d cent. A.D. and from most of the rest of their range in recent times. They are now numerous only in central Africa. At the beginning of the 20th cent.