The lion is the second largest of the great cats, second only to the Siberian Tiger, an adult male measuring up to 10 foot from nose to tip of tail (the females are slightly smaller). The lion once roamed over much of Africa, Asia, and Europe but is now only found in the wild in parts of Africa and India (in the Sasan-Gir National Park). Numbers are dwindling rapidly, down from some 100,000 in the wild in the early 1990s to an estimated 20,000 to 30,000, and the lion's conservation status is now listed as "vulnerable".

General Information

Wikipedia: The Lion - Detailed article about lions.

Encarta: Lion - The Encarta encyclopedia's article about Lions.

The Lion's Kingdom - Information about cubs, the pride, and the lion's relationship with hyenas and humans. Also a section on extinct species. A number of images.

African Savannah: African Lion - Information about the African Lion

Lions -- Africa's Majestic Maned Cats - General information about the lion's physical characteristics and social behavior.

The Wild Habitat: Lion (Panthera leo) - A brief article with basic information about lions.

Conservation

African Lion Working Group - Network of specialists in conservation, research and management of free-roaming African lion populations. Includes notes on conservation issues, ecology, behavior, research projects and news.

Lion Research Center - Research unit based at the University of Minnesota (USA), working on basic biology and conservation of African lions. Includes research results and details of current projects.

The World Conservation Union: Asiatic Lion - Information about the behavior, biology, habitat, threats and protection status of the Asiatic lion.

Asiatic Lion Information Centre - Provides a central resource on the Internet for information about the Asiatic lion and the conservation efforts in progress to protect it.

Miscellaneous

University of Wisconsin Madison Brain Collection - Features photos of the African lion's brain.