People ask ‘do lions sleep in trees?’ and it doesn’t take long to realise that the answer is a resounding, yes. Also it seems to me that lions have favorite trees in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania because I see the same tree popping up on the internet all the time. Or at least it looks like the same tree. This does not surprise me because some trees are more suitable than others in terms of its branches and location.
I have a strong feeling that organisers in Tanzania send customers to the same tree for photographs. The lions get used to it. In one picture of lions sleeping in a tree the lions are looking at the camera. The lions I have seen in the tree are without manes which means they are cubs or females. Cubs begin to grow a mane at around 12 months of age.
Although lions are ‘primarily terrestrial’ (spend most of their time on the ground) and despite the fact that they are not adept climbers they still like to spend the day resting in the branches of their favourite tree. The parks were you’ll see them do this are Africa’s Lake Mantra National Park, Tanzania and Queen Elizabeth NP in Uganda and the Serengeti NP as the picture shows.
The reason for this behaviour is said to be (1) to escape from buffalo and elephants or (2) to avoid being bitten by insects such as the tsetse and Stomoxyx flies. These flies hover around bushes but not trees.
Cubs play in trees and climb them when chased by dogs.
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