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* {{cite book | author=Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. (compilers and editors)|year=1996|title=Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan| publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland}} * {{cite book | author=Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. (compilers and editors)|year=1996|title=Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan| publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland}}
* Chellam, Ravi, and A. J. T. Johnsingh. "Management of Asiatic Lions in the Gir Forest, India" Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1993), No. 65, 409-424. * Chellam, Ravi, and A. J. T. Johnsingh. "Management of Asiatic Lions in the Gir Forest, India" Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond. (1993), No. 65, 409-424.
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Revision as of 10:42, 5 March 2007

Asiatic Lion
Female "Moti" at the Bristol Zoo.
Conservation status
Critically endangered
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. leo
Subspecies: P. l. persica
Trinomial name
Panthera leo persica
Meyer, 1826
Current distribution of the Asiatic Lion in the wild
Synonyms

Leo leo goojratensis (India)
Leo leo persicus (Persia)

The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica; also known as Indian Lion) is a subspecies of the lion found only in India. Asiatic Lion once ranged from Turkey to India, covering most of West Asia where it was also known as the Persian Lion.

The current wild population consists of about 350 individuals restricted to the Gir Forest in the state of Gujarat, India. There are plans to re-introduce some into the wild in Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in the neighboring State of Madhya Pradesh.

The historic distribution included the Caucasus to Yemen and from Macedon to present-day India through Iran (Persia).

Found famously on numerous Flags and Coat of Arms all across Asia and Europe, the Asiatic Lions also stand firm on the National Emblem of India.

Status

The Gir Forest National Park of western India has about 359 lions (as of April 2006) which live in a 1,412 km² (558 square miles) sanctuary covered with scrub and open deciduous forest habitats. The population in 1907 consisted of only 13 lions and the Nawab of Junagadh gave them complete protection.

The tiger, which is is the other large cat on the Indian subcontinent is presently not found in the area occupied by the Lion.

The Gir forest is close to numerous human habitations and the lions sometimes prey on livestock. Some tribes have also been known to steal meat from lion kills. This has led to many conflicts between the local people, lions and the wildlife officials.

Inbreeding concerns

The wild population of more than 300 Asiatic Lions is thought to be derived from just 13 individuals thus was widely thought to be highly inbred. Many studies have reported that the inbred populations could be susceptible to diseases and their sperms were deformed leading to infertility. In earlier studies Stephen O'Brien, a geneticist, had suggested that "If you do a DNA fingerprint, Asiatic lions actually look like identical twins... because they descend from as few as a dozen individuals that was all left at the turn of the 20th century." This makes them especially vulnerable to diseases, and causes 70 to 80% of sperms to be deformed — a ratio that can lead to infertility when lions are further inbred in captivity.

A subsequent study found that the low genetic variability may have been a feature of the original population and not a result of the inbreeding. They also show that the variability in immunotypes is close to that of the tiger population and that there are no spermatazoal abnormalities in the current population of Asiatic Lions. The results of the study have been questioned due the use of RAPD techniques which are unsuitable for population genetics research.

The population figure of 13 Asiatic lions at the turn of 1900s is regarded as inaccurate and is believed to have been publicized to discourage hunting. Census data from that time indicates that the population was closer to 100. Hunting of Lions was a popular sport with the British Colonialists and Indian Royalty and all other Lions in India had been exterminated by then.

Threats being faced by the Asiatic Lion

Even though the Gir Forest is well protected but there are incidences of Critically endangered last wild Asiatic Lion being poached and claws regularly go missing from their carcasses. Lions are also poisoned for attacking livestock. Some of the other major threats include floods, fires and the ever present lurking threat of the entire wild population of Asiatic Lions being wiped out because of epidemics and natural calamities. All the wild Asiatic Lions of the entire world are presently found only in the tiny Gir Forest, in Gujarat, India.

Over the decades hundreds of critically endangered Asiatic Lions have died, drowned and broken their bones by falling into the 10000 to 15000 open-wells dug by the farmers in and around Gir Forest. "Open wells" are now a major well documented grave threat to the last 300 odd wild Asiatic Lions found living at Gir Forest, presently their only wild home in the whole wide world. Every year the farmers dig more open wells but the State Government of Gujarat (India) has done nothing to make these illegal. There is an "urgent need" to pass a law to make open-wells illegal and farmers should be legally required to build a parapet wall around the wells and fence them in. A local NGO funded nationally or internationally can be engaged in working with the farmers and educating them to go in for "Drilled Tube wells" instead which are no threat the critically endangered last wild Asiatic Lions or other wildlife.

Farmers on the periphery of the Gir National Park frequently use illegal crude home made electrical fences to protect their crops from raiding wild animals, specially from herds of Nilgai and connect high voltage overhead power lines directly to these fences. This has on several occasions led to the electrocution of critically endangered Asiatic Lions and other wildlife.

The biggest threat faced by the Gir National Park is the presence of Maldharis. These communities are vegetarian and do not indulge in poaching because they are basically pasturalists, with an average of 50 cattle (mainly "Gir Cow") per family. So during grass-scarce seasons Maldharis, even from outside the sanctuary, bring their cattle into the park in the guise of selling them and take them away after the monsoon season. So eventually it has become grazing ground for a large number of cattle, not only of the Maldharis but also for those living in an area of say 100 km around the park. These people are legally entitled to live in the park but slowly the area around the nesses (small hamlets where Maldharis live) is becoming denuded of vegetation. The population of Maldharis, as well as their numbers of cattle, is increasing and some Maldharis have houses outside the forest but still keep their cattle inside the forest to get unlimited access to forage. One of the outcomes of this is that the natural population of the wild ungulates of the protected area which forms the prey base suffers and as mentioned earlier sometimes the critically endangered last wild Asiatic lions which have attacked livestock are ruthlessly poisoned.

Reintroduction

Asiatic Lion
Main article: Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project

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 150-250 Kg; Female 120-182 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 (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

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. By the late 1800s the lion had disappeared from Turkey.

The Barbary Lion

Main article: 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.

See also

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
  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. Bristol Zoo information page on the Asiatic lion
  8. Guggisberg, C.A.W. (1961). Simba: The Life of the Lion. Howard Timmins, Cape Town.
  9. Ustay, A.H. (1990). Hunting in Turkey. BBA, Istanbul.
  10. Asiatic Lion Information Centre. 2001 Past and present distribution of the lion in North Africa and Southwest Asia. Downloaded on 1 June 2006 from

Other references

External links

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