Thread:Glitchee123z/@comment-35455126-20190123014049/@comment-24018437-20190426191531

Glitchee123z wrote: Why are lions called “the king of the jungle” when they don’t live in jungles? If anything, that title should belong to tigers.

Actually, there are lions who live in more dense habitats such as jungles and forests. Ethopian lions live in the jungle, and the last remnant of wild Asiatic lions is restricted to Gir Forest in India. However, considering the vast majority of the Panthera Leo species does live on plains and savanahs, your point is still valid.

Interestingly enough, the lion’s title of ‘King of the Jungle’ is a Western concept. Lions appear oddly little in the stories, cultures and art of native African cultures with a few notabele exceptions, such as the Massai, whom consider killing one a rite of passage, and an Ethopian culture whose name I forgot, who hold white lions sacred. When it come’s to kings, the leopard is often associated with royalty in those cultures instead.

The ancient people of Benin had a ritual where the heir of the throne had to sacrifice a leopard to the gods. It symbolized that the future king of the people was blessed with the power and wisdom with now deceased king of the beasts. Wearing the fur of a leopard was considered standard in many rituals, as well as a sign of royalty, such as with the Zulus. Some tribes, such as the Mabadu, worshiped leopards to the extremes, and gave rise to the Anioto, more commonly known as the 'Leopard Men', a cult of cannibalistic assassins and religious extremists that took part in ceremonial sacrifices and much more.