when are the lions playing in new zealand
2017 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand The British and Irish Lions toured New Zealand during June and July 2017. The British and Irish Lions played 10 rugby union matches: matches against all five New Zealand Super Rugby franchises, the NZ Provincial Barbarians, the Māori All Blacks and three test matches against New Zealand.[1][2]
Lion Young lions first display stalking behaviour at around three months of age, although they do not participate in hunting until they are almost a year old and begin to hunt effectively when nearing the age of two.[103] Single lions are capable of bringing down prey twice their size, such as zebra and wildebeest, while hunting larger prey like giraffes and buffalo alone is too risky. Cooperatively hunting lions are usually successful.[82][97] In prides, lionesses do most of the hunting.[82] In typical hunts, each lioness has a favoured position in the group, either stalking prey on the "wing" then attacking or moving a smaller distance in the centre of the group and capturing prey fleeing from other lionesses. Males attached to prides do not usually participate in group hunting.[104] Some evidence suggests, however, that pride males are just as successful as females; they are solo hunters who ambush prey in small bushland.[105] Lions are not particularly known for their stamina â€“ for instance, a lioness' heart comprises only 0.57% of her body weight and a male's is about 0.45% of his body weight, whereas a hyena's heart comprises almost 1% of its body weight.[106] Thus, lions only run quickly in short bursts[107] and need to be close to their prey before starting the attack. They take advantage of factors that reduce visibility; many kills take place near some form of cover or at night.[108] Because lions are ambush hunters, human farmers have recently found that lions are easily discouraged if they think their prey has seen them. To protect their cattle from such attacks with that knowledge in mind, farmers have found it effective to paint eyes on the hindquarters of each cow, which is usually enough to make hunting lions think they have been seen and select easier prey.[109]