Carnivores: Aardwolf African Wild Cat African Wild Dog Banded Mongoose Bat Eared Fox Black-backed Jackal Brown Hyena Cape Clawless Otter Cape Fox Caracal Cheetah Civet Dhole Large Spotted Genet Golden Jackal Honey badger Leopard African Lion Asiatic Lion Sand Cat Serval Side Striped Jackal Snow Leopard Spotted Hyena Striped Hyena Suricate (Meercat) Tiger White Tailed Mongoose Yellow Mongoose
The Asiatic lion is in general smaller than its African counterpart with
shorter limbs and a stockier body. The mane is thinner than the African lion’s,
although the African lion’s mane can vary in length throughout parts of Africa
to the extent where it is absent in some individuals. The coat of the Asiatic
lion is normally thicker with the mane running the length of its belly. (Belly
manes were also present in the extinct Barbary lion which were found in the
Atlas Mountains of Morocco). Its skull shape and size are different along with a
fold of skin that runs the length of its abdomen, which is more visible in
lionesses. Adult males weigh between 150 – 250kg and adult females between 120
-180kg. The over all biology of Asiatic lions is very similar to the
African lion.
There are some theories that the Asiatic lion may have evolved to be smaller
following many years of trophy hunting when the larger males were targeted, thus
leaving the smaller males to breed and past on their ‘small’ genes. The largest
male Asiatic lion ever recorded was 306kg in 1920 compared with a male African
lion shot in 1936 weighing in at an equally impressive 311kg!
There are numerous discussions surrounding the number of lion sub species there
were in the past and are currently. However, there is one sub species that most people
agree is separate - the Asiatic lion Panthera leo persica. This is because it has
been evolving separately from the African lion Panthera leo leo and its
relatives for a long time - about 10,000 years, therefore there is a clear genetic
difference between them and other sub species. Morphological differences include
skull shape and size along with a fold of skin that runs the length of the
Asiatic lion’s abdomen. Its historical distribution ranged from North West India
spreading west in to parts of the Middle East, through Turkey and into Greece
and Europe. It was also found in North Africa from Ethiopia to Morocco.
Lions roar as one way to mark out their territory. The roar sounds like a series of grunts and groans, and can be heard over distances of around 5 miles. This lets other lions in the area know that the territory is occupied. Lions in neighbouring territories respond by roaring to mark their territory. The roars of the dominant male also allow other members of the pride to monitor his location.
Females carry out most of the hunting and prey upon deer, antelope, wild boar and buffalo.
Along with its African cousin, the Asiatic lion lives in prides making them the only sociable cat species. One male or a group of males take over prides consisting of related females. The pride size is usually smaller, between 2 and 4 adults, compared with the African lion prides which are made up of between 2 and 12 adult, plus their young.
In the wild the Asiatic Lion can live up to 18 years and females give birth to 1 - 6 young after a gestation period of about 109 days.
The Asiatic lion can only be found now in the Gir Protected Area. This is a 1000 km2 area of dry land consisting of scrub and teak forests in the North West of India. In 1910 the first efforts were made to save the Asiatic lion from the pressures of hunting and human encroachment. At the time there were thought to be only two dozen lions left but the actual figure was probably nearer 100. When India became independent in 1947 the ban on hunting was upheld and by the 1970s the Gir National Park and Lion sanctuary were established, now the Gir Protected Area.
Once the Asiatic lion started to receive some protection its numbers increased from 100 individuals to the estimated 350 Asiatic lions in the protected area today. Due to the population’s increase in numbers, the park that protects them is at maximum capacity and the lions often come into conflict with humans living on the parks boarders. In addition to young lions spilling out from this over crowded area to hunt livestock, people take their cattle and goats into the park to graze where the lions lie in wait!
The Indian Government has placed protection over the lions, with the species being cited as critically endangered on the IUCN red list and being listed on appendix 1 of CITES.
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© Predator Conservation Trust.
