Lions of Tanzania (Serengeti, Ngorongoro and others)

[Spalea]

Daniel Rosengren: " HAPPY EASTER!

It is quite entertaining to watch a lion that has found an ostrich egg. An ostrich egg is about the size of over 20 chicken's eggs and has a very hard shell. This makes it difficult for a female lion to open it as she has to open her mouth to the max to fit it in. In this wide open state, she doesn't have much power to crush the egg and struggles quite a bit, often trying different techniques. This generates a lot of curiosity among the other lions who all think they can do a better job with it. If the one with the egg gives up, another lion jumps straight in and gives it a try. In the end, there is usually one lion who finally manages to crack it and gets the reward of licking up the interior egg white and yolk. Male lions are larger and can open their mouth bigger and normally don't have a problem ot open the egg.
Like I mentioned above, ostrich eggs are huge. The typically weigh about 1.4 kg, this makes it the largest egg and single cell in the world. But it is actually the smallest of all bird eggs compared to the size of the mother. The egg shell is about 2 millimeters thick, that is about 7 times thicker than a normal chicken's egg. On Mohs scale of mineral hardness the ostrich egg scores a 3, that is equal to a penny!
Photographed in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. "

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