Publisher's Synopsis
The lioness is the pinnacle of hunting prowess from the earliest of human writings and graphic representations.The lionesses are the hunters for their pride and execute their skills with precision and complex teamwork.Each lioness develops specific skills for her role in the hunting techniques used by her pride and, generally, assumes that role during most hunts.The lioness is 20 to 35% smaller than the male and 50% lighter. Only males grow a mane.Each pride has its own social dominant hierarchy in which the weakest male ranks above all females.Lionesses hunt instinctively in a cooperative fashion. When hunting in a group they fan out to surround prey and attempt to drive it toward one another. Since lions can only run 36 mph., and some of its prey can run up to 50 mph., cooperation and stealth are vital. The females are expert stalkers and the color of their coat helps camouflage them. If a female is hunting alone, it is imperative that she gets a close as possible to her prey, which often has the ability to run faster than her. If an individual is hunting alone it will only be successful about 17% of the time. If two or more hunt together they will have a success rate of 30%.
