Counting Africa's Lions: teacher key

Lions, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. Lions are big cats that live in prides. Read how they hunt, raise cubs and talk, how scientists follow them, and what the counts say.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. As of November 2026, about how many wild lions remain in Africa?
   • 22,000 to 25,000 (answer)
   • 2,200 to 2,500
   • 220,000 to 250,000
2. Lion numbers in Africa have dropped by about half in roughly 25 to 30 years. If about 22,000 to 25,000 remain, about how many lived there before?
   • About 11,000 to 12,500
   • About 44,000 to 50,000 (answer)
   • About 220,000
3. What do scientists put on lions to follow where they go?
   • Bells
   • Paint
   • Tracking collars (answer)
4. How big is the isolated group of lions in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater?
   • About 60 (answer)
   • About 6
   • About 600
5. What does isolated mean in this book?
   • Very hungry
   • Cut off from others (answer)
   • Full of cubs

Words

• inbreeding: mating between relatives
• isolated: cut off
• carcasses: dead animals
• census: a count
• coalitions: teams of males