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Desert Lion

Name: Desert Lion

Category: Monsters, Pets

Type: Mammalians

Size: Large

Region: Desert, specifically the Scorpion Desert

Rarity: Uncommon; Exotic pets

Lifespan: 10-12 years

Appearance

Desert lions look very similar to African lions but are paler in colour, blending in to their sandy surroundings with a natural camouflage.

The mane is larger and stands out from the head more, making them appear larger than their cousins despite their similar size. Even the females have a mane, though theirs is much smaller and more like the mane of young African males.

With small saber-like fangs and serrated, retractable claws, they make powerful killing machines and will attack anything they can eat.

Behaviour

Desert lions are much like African lions in form and temperament. They live in large prides with a dominant male and the females are responsible for hunting and rearing their young.

They're fiercer and far more territorial than their cousins, claiming almost twice as much territory as an African lion might due to the lack of food and water in the desert, but they also sleep a little more.

Diet: They'll eat almost any meat they can hunt down and kill.

Habitat: Dry, arid deserts where they cluster around oases.

Breeding: Females come into heat around six times a year, inducing the males to fight for their interest. The dominant male is usually the successful breeding partner, but there his involvement ends, leaving the mother to rear her young with the help of the other females in the pride. No matter how often a female mates, however, she will only breed once a year and will have a maximum of two cubs per litter. It's rare both survive, and more often than not both are killed either by the males in the pride or by other predators. Zoologists suggest this is a means of keeping their pride numbers down so they don't overstretch their resources.

Special Information

Strengths/Abilities:

• They're strong and fast. The females, especially, are good hunters even when alone.

Weaknesses:

• They need a lot of rest due to the heat of the desert, at which time they're more vulnerable to attack.

Uses:

• Desert lions are sold as pets at some pet stores, but aren't easy to domesticate and are best when raised from a very young age. Otherwise, they have a tendency to turn on their owners, and even hand-reared cubs can become dangerous. They're not a pet for the faint of heart.

Creator: Emma