*Sniff* Beautiful...

No, a lion's mane is linked to his testosterone levels, more testosterone = a bigger mane. Testosterone levels in a non-dominant male are suppressed by the dominant male, so the the non-dominant does not grow a mane. If the non-dominant has cubs which become dominant, then they will have increased testosterone levels and will grow a mane. If the cubs are not dominant, then they will not grow a mane. So yes, a mane is a status symbol.

 

Christian did not grow a mane because he was not dominant as an adolescent; his human owners were the dominants in his pride, then once he joined a real pride he was a submissive male because the pride already had a dominant who he was not capable/willing to challenge.

 

Yes, it is possible to identify individuals by the pattern of spots on their muzzle, which is unique like a human fingerprint.

Additionally lions hold the title because of the male's mane giving him a somewhat regal appearance.

 

Binoculars?

 

Something a bit similar: www.schofieldandwhite.com/SCCSS/media/lionesses.mpg

Sorry about my lack of camera skills

 

The man who rehabilitated Christian (and tens of other lions) was murdered in 1987. There have not been many, if any, attempts since.

 

A lion's lifespan in the wild is about 15 years, so no, Christian is not still alive.

I made a slight error about the date George was murdered. On the 20th of August, 1989, plane buzzed low over Campi ya Simba (Swahili, camp of the lions) on the Kora game reserve in Kenya, in signalling that there was a visitor waiting at the nearby airstrip. George dispatched a servant to pick up the visitor, but some while later the camp residents heard automatic gunfire from the direction of the airstrip. They piled into George's landrover and headed off. Some way along the road they found the servant lying against his landrover with both his legs broken and the guest (a German tourist) being held up by armed robbers. George's servants bailed out of the landrover and opened fire, while George attempted to run the robbers over. They dodged the landrover and shot him in the back as he passed, killing him instantly.

There was such a public outcry within Kenya and Britain that the Kenyan government set the army loose in the reserve with orders to bring the robbers in alive or dead. They were arrested within 3 days.

Georges wife, Joy, had been murdered by a servant several years earlier; she had been stabbed so brutally that the initial verdict was she had been mauled by an animal.