LION: The lion is a massive and well-muscled cat, second in size only to the tiger. It forms long-term social groups, called prides, a unique behavior among felines. The female does the "lion's share" of the hunting. She will approach a herd of prey from downwind, inching ever closer until the attack is sprung. After a successful chase, the lioness overpowers her quarry with her huge forelimbs and then sinks her 2.5-inch teeth deep into the animal's neck to cut off its wind supply. Alternatively, she may clamp her vice-like jaws over the victim's mouth and nostrils to suffocate it. An adult lion can weigh between 330 and 570 pounds and measure between 5.2 and 8.2 feet from head to rump. It can run over 35 mph for short distances and leap up to 40 feet in a single bound. It occupies most tropical habitats but prefers savanna, grassland and open woodland. Once common throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa, today the lion is confined to Tanzania, South Africa and parts of Kenya. A dwindling population of Asiatic lions, a subspecies, persists in northwestern India.