Lion Roar

Is it true that the roaring lion is usually toothless?

I've heard a number of times that, in the wild, the roaring lion usually has no teeth and that his roar drives his prey away from him and toward the younger, stronger and quicker lions who actually take on the hunt.

Is this an urban legend?

No, that isn't true at all. Roaring has nothing to do with hunting - it's for communication among their own species. Lions roar to warn other prides of their ownership of a territory, and to locate other members of their own pride when they have become scattered.

Lions have a number of hunting strategies, and may drive prey towards other members of the group that are lying in wait, but they do this just by chasing them, not by roaring.

Depending on the context, the saying 'the roaring lion is usually toothless' may have nothing to do with actual lions - it's a metaphor meaning that people who make a lot of noise and outcry often don't have anything to back it up with. It's like the saying 'his bark is worse than his bite'.

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