Asiatic Lion

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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 and 210 in The Lion Sanctuary, Bangladesh . 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.

Contents 1 Status 2 Inbreeding concerns 2.1 Threats to the species 3 Reintroduction 4 Fact-sheet 5 Common names 6 Asiatic Lions in Europe and West Asia 7 The Barbary Lion 8 See also 9 Cited references 10 Other references 11 External links

[edit] 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.^[1]

[edit] 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."^[2] 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 suggested that the low genetic variability may have been a feature of the original population and not a result of inbreeding in recent times. 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.^[3][4] The results of the study have been questioned due the use of RAPD techniques which are unsuitable for population genetics research.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.

[edit] Threats to the species

Even though the Gir Forest is well protected, there are incidences of poaching for their claws. Lions are also poisoned for attacking livestock. Some of the other major threats include floods, fires and epidemics. Their restricted range makes them especially vulnerable.

Nearly 10,000 to 15,000 open wells dug by farmers in the area for irrigation have also acted as traps with many lions drowning. Suggestions for walls around the wells as well as the use of "Drilled Tube wells" have been made.

Farmers on the periphery of the Gir Forest frequently use crude and illegal electrical fences by powering them with high voltage overhead power lines. These are usually intended to protect their crops from Nilgai but lions and other wildlife are also killed.

The biggest threat faced by the Gir Forest 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. During the dry season, Maldharis from outside the sanctuary bring their cattle into the park in the guise of selling them and take them out after the monsoon season. The areas around Maldhari settlements, nesses, are overgrazed. This habitat destruction by the cattle and the firewood requirements of the populace reduces the natural prey base and endangers the lions. The lions are in turn forced by the lack of natural prey to shift to killing cattle and are in turn targeted by the people.

[edit] Reintroduction

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.

[edit] 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 100-150 Kg^[7]
• Length (head and body): Male 170-240 cm; Female 140-170 cm
• Length (tail): 70-105 cm
• Shoulder height: Male 90-110 cm; Female 80-90 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: 14-16 years

[edit] Common names

• Arie Asi'iaty (Hebrew);
• 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)

[edit] Asiatic Lions in Europe and West Asia

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 BC, 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 became extinct in Armenia around the year 300 and in 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, deer and other ungulates.

Lions remained widespread elsewhere until the mid-19th century 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.^[8] By the late 19th century the lion had disappeared from Turkey.^[9][10]

[edit] 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.

[edit] See also

• Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Junagadh
• Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project
• Reintroduction
• in-situ conservation
• Wildlife conservation
• Ex-situ conservation
• Extinction
• National Emblem of India

[edit] Cited references

[edit] Other references

• Cat Specialist Group (2000). Panthera leo ssp. persica. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this subspecies is critically endangered
• S.M.Nair (English edition); Translated by O.Henry Francis (1999). Endangered Animals of India and their conservation (In Tamil). National Book Trust. 
• Kaushik, H. 2005. Wire fences death traps for big cats. Times of India, Thursday, October 27, 2005.
• Nowell, K. and Jackson, P. (compilers and editors) (1996). Wild Cats. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. 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.

[edit] External links

• Asiatic Lion Information Centre (Includes an informative "News" section)
• Asiatic Lion Protection Society (ALPS), Gujarat, India
• Lion (Panthera leo) from “ARKive images of life on Earth” website]
• Panthera leo (lion) from “Animal Diversity Web”]
• "Vanishing Herds Foundation (VHF), India" comes to the rescue of Asiatic Lion
• Asiatic Gir Gujarati lions in online video(3 videos)