ASIATIC LION-INDIA
(Panthera Leo Persica)
ENDANGERED SPECIS-1
SARASIJ MAJUMDER
India is the house of 8
endangered animal species. ASIATIC LION
is one of them.
The lion was once found throughout Africa, major part of Asia
and in some part of Europe but now they exist only in Africa with one exception,
i.e. INDIA. The last remaining Asiatic
lions are found only in Sasan-Gir National Park, and surrounding area in Gujarat, India, which is primarily created to protect
the species. Currently, there are approximately 400 lions in the park, and
adjoining area. And they are endangered! The present total number is not
comfortable. About 1,000 in number is right to sustain. An epidemic, and they
may be lost.
The earliest lion fossils, which are recognizable as lions,
were found at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and are believed to be up to 2
million years old. These fossils suggest that lions and snow leopard
ancestors may have hybridized until around 2.1 million years ago.
The oldest known wild male lion was named Loonkito, and
lived in Kenya. He was monitored by the Lion Guardians conservation group and
lived until the age of 19 - much longer than average of 13 years. He is thought
to have been the oldest male lion in Africa at the time of his death in 2023.
During the Middle Pleistocene (800,000–100,000 years ago),
lions migrated out of Africa into Europe, Asia, and North America, eventually
extending as far south as Peru. During the Late Pleistocene, they became
the most widespread large terrestrial mammals. First they got extinct in USA.
The oldest male lion in captivity was named Arjun. Born in
captivity, he was originally part of a circus before being moved to the Indian
Animal Rescue Centre. He lived there until he
passed away due to natural causes in 2018. He was between 26 and 29
years old (his exact age was unknown) when he died.
If you see a LION in captivity, you may be seeing a shadow
of this beautiful species. Before it is too late- go to SASAN—GIR, which is a dry deciduous forest. Spend some
time there, till you meet them free. They don’t harm—unprovoked. But—don’t tr
take photos from close distance. It can jump 30+ feet!
Even though the lion is sometimes referred to as the “king
of the jungle,” it actually only lives in grasslands called “SAVANA” and
plains. The expression may have come from an incorrect association between
Africa and jungles or may refer to a less literal meaning of the word jungle.
A Lion is ‘KING OF SAVANA’—A Tiger is ‘KING OF FOREST’.
These majestic cats are threatened by habitat loss. The lion
is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
All Lions live in ‘PRIDES’. African lions (Panthera leo Melanochaita)
are the most social of all big cats and live together in groups or large
“prides.” A pride consists of about 15 lions or more.
African Lions are bigger. African Males have relatively
short, sparse and darker manes, whereas Asiatic Lions has a
bigger, round, and fuller Manes.. African Lion stay in Sub-Saharan Africa and
West Africa. They live in savanna, shrubland, grassland, and desert.
Normally, a PRIDE is headed by a Male lion, 7-10 lionesses,
and balance are CUBS. Close Male sibling of Leader lion also sometimes stay in
the same pride, as rarely reported.
The most able members of the Pride participate in hunting.
They adopt one of the two approaches:-
- Coordinated
attacks - like a couple of lionesses driving a herd of wildebeests
into a narrow pass and then another couple first picking off and then
finishing one or more of the prey, as per demand of FOOD.
- Ambush -
this is much harder to do on the plains because there is little cover
unlike say for a tiger in a thick forest.
Now given its sheer bulk and thick mane, it is hard for a
male lion to hide himself. It can run faster than say a tiger but doesn’t have
anything close to the sheer speed of cheetahs in terms of all-out chase or the
incredible stamina of an African wild dog or hyena to pursue its prey endlessly
until the latter collapses from exhaustion.
The primary role of a male lion in a pride is to
protect the females and the cubs that He has sired, both
from other rival competitive predators (most notably hyenas that are a
primordial and chief enemy) and other male lions (who will instantly kill all
the cubs if they take over). On the rare occasion, a male lion will be decisive
in bringing down massive prey like an old Cape buffalo but that’s quite
uncommon.
But male lions are so stressed out that the lifespan of
lionesses is some four years more than theirs. Which when you’re talking
about a species that only lives as long as a dog for 12–15 years, is a
big deal.
Predators like lions cannot simply get up and leave if
there’s a drought. Because other grounds already belong to other male lions and
as a species, they are incredibly territorial. So yeah, in an
especially bad dry season, if the prey leave in search of better pastures, the
lion simply does not have that option. This is something very important which
most people fail to realize when looking at predator vs. prey.
It is not a stretch to say that on balance, the male lion
has the most stressed out lifestyle of all large animals on the plains --with
the possible exception of cheetahs.
A king who lives for significantly shorter than the females
of his species and way shorter than even his prey. And is so
crazy stressed out even in the best phase that male lions
often won’t even eat or sleep at ease or comfortably.
How do they meet their end?
- Starvation after
being dislodged from their pride (if they even have one to begin with). An
old lion who has been dethroned has little capacity to hunt for himself.
- Being
mauled to death by a younger and healthier male competitor who
challenges them and takes over the pride. Mostly one he ‘SIRED’!
- And
then driven into the wilderness to meet a comparatively slow and miserable
end. Once an old lion is driven from the pride into a
solitary existence, that advantage of being a social hunter now
becomes a mortal curse.
- However—in
GIR, the old lions are looked after by Forest people.
Some less known facts about Lions:-
1. A lion may sleep up to 20 hours a day.
2. A lion’s heel doesn’t touch the ground when it walks.
3. A good gauge of a male lion’s age is the darkness of his
mane. The darker the mane, the older the lion.
4. A good gauge of a male lion’s age is the darkness of his
mane. The darker the mane, the older the lion.
5. A lion can run for short distances at 50 mph and leap as
far as 36 feet.
6. A lion’s roar can be heard from as far as 5 miles away.
7. Male lions defend the pride’s territory while females do
most of the hunting. Despite this, the males eat first.
8. A lion can run for short distances at 50 mph and leap as
far as 36 feet.
9. A lion’s roar can be heard from as far as 5 miles away.
10. These majestic cats are threatened by habitat loss. The
lion is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Sources:
1.0 The Lion. Behaviour, Ecology, and Conservation
of an Iconic Species. By Craig Packer - Distinguished McKnight University
Professor & Award . (My primary source of data oriented information)
2.0 https://bigcatsindia.com/asiatic-lion/
3.0 My
Afro—Indian Guide: Kichloo, from
GIR. I learned more from him about
Asiatic Lions.
Image:-- Google.
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