About Indian Lion
The Asiatic Lion is rated the most endangered large carnivore globally. And India has the distinction of being the last earthly refuge of the Asiatic lion. The Gir National Park and Lion Sanctuary is the one and only remaining habitat of this proud and majestic species.
An average Asiatic Lion, also known as the Indian Lion, is generally 2.5 m to 2.9 m tall, and weighs between 200 to 250 kg. It has a majestic mane and a big tail tuft. Indian Lions move about in prides, comprising 2-3 male adults and more lionesses and cubs. They communicate with each other with a variety of grunts, meows, growls, moans and roars, and while female cubs stay with the pride, the males leave after they are three years old.
The Asiatic Lions are lazy and indolent creatures that prey on the Sambar, Chital, Nilgai, Wild Pig, and occasionally on goats and camels. Lion males often live in pairs that last a lifetime. However, in the pride it is the females who go out hunting in packs and bring back prey, which is first devoured by the male, and only then by the rest of the pack. In the daytime, they live close to water holes and rest in the shade. Hunting is relegated to dusk, or at night.
The Asiatic lion once ranged from Asia Minor and Arabia through Persia to India. In fact, at the turn of the century, Gir was a splendid mixed, deciduous forest of teak, acacia, zizyphas and banyan, sprawled over some 3,386 sq. km. Lions would have thrived there, were it not for their enemies-hunters and a devastating famine that all but wrapped up the prey species. At one time the estimated number of lions went down to as low as thirty. However, due to the efforts of the authorities and the Gir National Park, the Asiatic lion has been narrowly saved from extinction. Though it is still a highly endangered species, statistics show that if efforts are kept up, their numbers might begin to improve.
| The Lion History |
As India’s population grew and began cultivating or settling more and more of its forest and scrublands, the Asiatic lion was compressed nearly out of existence. In the beginning of this century the Gir Forest area in the state of Gujarat on the west coast was suffered from a terrible famine brought on by a tragic drought, resulting in a devastation. Because of the serious circumstances, the lion population began preying on the human population in the area. This prompted a massive backlash against the lions, resulting in a catastrophic decline in their population. In the year 1910 there were reported to be fewer than two dozen lions left in the wild although it is said that, this low figure may have been publicised to discourage lion hunting - census data from the time indicates the population was probably closer to 100.
Indian Lion SafariBefore they were completely wiped out, the lions came under the protection of the Nawab of Junagadh, a local monarch, who banned all lion hunting in the area. Soon, the lion population began to increase in number. By the declaration of Indian independence in the year 1947, the government had come to realise the importance and fragile nature of this last bastion of the Asiatic lion, and the Nawab’s conservation policy was upheld. Naturalists were assigned to study and take a census of the Gir’s lion population. At that time there were around 200 lions.
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| Know the Indian Lion |
Asiatic lions are seriously endangered. The Indian lion is another name for the Asiatic lion, Panthera leo persica, the sub-species that once ranged from Greece to central India. This animal has played a major role in the symbols and folklore of Indian culture for over 2000 years. The Asiatic lion has long been celebrated as Lord of Beasts, and it became a symbol for human power and kingship. In ancient societies in India, to fight with a lion was regarded as the ultimate test of leadership. This slowly shifted to a somewhat safer, more symbolic gesture of a leader clothing himself in or standing on a lion skin. There were magnificent illustration of lions amongst the statues at Mahabalipuram. The most major use of the lion as a symbol of power and strength was associated with the Emperor Asoka in Sarnath, 2000 years ago. This illustration of a lion eventually became the emblem for the modern Republic of India.
The Asiatic lion was once widespread throughout Southwest Asia. Today the species can only be found in a single location in the wild, the Gir forest in India. Although genetically recognisable from the sub-Saharan African lion, the difference is not large. In fact, the variance is less than that found between different human racial groups. The closeness in genetic make-up between Asiatic and African lions signifies that the two populations separated as recently as 100,000 years ago.
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