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Asiatic Lion

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Reintroduction

 

 Asiatic Lion

Asiatic Lion

Work has been going on over the past decade to establish the world's second completely removed population of the wild free ranging Asiatic Lions at the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Conservationists, Scientists all over the world and the Central Government of India agree that this is necessary to save the last Asiatic lions from extinction due to epidemics and natural calamities in the near future. It is also very important to start a separate second population because not only it serves as a life insurance for the last surviving Asiatic Lions but it will also help to develop and maintain genetic diversity.

Fact-sheet

Compared to its African counterpart, the males of the Indian lion have a scantier mane and a characteristic skin fold at the belly.

  • Weight: Male 150-225 Kg; Female 120-160 Kg
  • Length (head and body): Male 170-250 cm; Female 140-175 cm
  • Length (tail): 70-105 cm
  • Shoulder height: Male 100-123 cm; Female 80-107 cm
  • Sexual Maturity: Male 5 years; Female 4 years
  • Mating season: All year round
  • Gestation period: 100-119 days
  • Number of young: 1 to 6
  • Birth interval: 18-26 months
  • Typical diet: Deer, antelope, wild boar, buffalo
  • Lifespan: 16-18 years

Common names

  • Indian Lion (English);
  • Iranian / Persian Lion (English);
  • Shinh / Sinh, Simha, untia bagh [camel tiger] (Hindi);
  • sinh, sawaj (Gujarati);
  • hawaj (Maldhari);
  • babbar sher (Punjabi), (Hindi popular usage) & (Urdu);
  • shir (Persian);
  • lion d'Asie (French);
  • Asiatischer Löwe (German);
  • león de Asia (Spanish);
  • leão asiático (Portuguese)

Asiatic Lions in Europe and West Asia

 

Chandra and Moti, the asiatic lions at Bristol Zoo

Chandra and Moti, the asiatic lions at Bristol Zoo

Lions were once found in Europe. Aristotle and Herodotus wrote that lions were found in the Balkans. When King Xerxes of Persia advanced through Macedon in 480 B.C., several of his baggage camels were killed by lions. Lions are believed to have died out within the borders of present-day Greece around AD 80-100.

The European population is sometimes considered part of the Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) group, but others consider it a separate subspecies, the European lion (Panthera leo europaea).

Lions were found in the Caucasus until 10 AD. These lions become extinct from Armenia around the year 300 and from Azerbaijan and southwest Russia during the 10th century. The region was also inhabited by the Caspian Tiger and the Persian leopard apart from Asiatic Cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) introduced by Armenian princes for hunting. The last tiger was shot in 1932 near Prishib village in Talis, Azerbaijan Republic. The principal reasons for the disappearance of these cats was their extermination as predators. The prey for large cats in the region included the Wisent, Elk, aurochs, tarpan and others ungulates.

Lions remained widespread elsewhere until the mid-1800s when the advent of firearms led to its extinction over large areas. The last sighting of a live Asiatic Lion in Iran was in 1941 (between Shiraz and Jahrom, Fars province). In 1944, the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of Karun river, Khuzestan province, Iran. There are no subsequent reliable reports from Iran.[7] By the late 1800s the lion had disappeared from Turkey.[8][9]

The Barbary Lion

In 1968, a study of the skulls of the extinct Barbary (North African), extinct Cape, Asiatic, and African lions showed that the same skull characteristics - the very narrow postorbital bar - existed in the Barbary and Asiatic lion skulls. This shows that there may have been a close relationship between the lions from Northernmost Africa and Asia. It is also believed that the South European lion that became extinct around AD 80-100, could have represented the connecting link between the North African and Asiatic lions. It is believed that Barbary lions possessed the same belly fold (hidden under their manes) that are seen in the Asian lions today.

 

Cited references

  1. ^ Saberwal, V. K., J. P. Gibbs, Ravi Chellam, and A. J. T. Johnsingh. "Lion-Human Conflict in the Gir Forest, India." Conservation Biology (June 1994), 501-507.
  2. ^ National Geographic feature
  3. ^ Shivaji,S. , D. Jayaprakash and Suresh B. Patil (1998) Assessment of inbreeding depression in big cats: Testosterone levels and semen analysis. Current science. 75(9):23-30 [1]
  4. ^ Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA), Government of India
  5. ^ "Indians Look At Their Big Cats' Genes", Science, Random Samples, Volume 278, Number 5339, Issue of 31 October 1997, 278: 807 (DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5339.807b) (in Random Samples),The American Association for the Advancement of Science
  6. ^ The Asiatic Lion Information Centre Accessed January 2007
  7. ^ Guggisberg, C.A.W. (1961). Simba: The Life of the Lion. Howard Timmins, Cape Town. 
  8. ^ Ustay, A.H. (1990). Hunting in Turkey. BBA, Istanbul. 
  9. ^ Asiatic Lion Information Centre. 2001 Past and present distribution of the lion in North Africa and Southwest Asia. Downloaded on 1 June 2006 from [2]

 

 

 

 

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