Asiatic lion

Appearance

The most striking morphological character, which is always seen in Asiatic lions, and rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.
Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. Adult males weigh 160 to 190 kg , while females weigh 110 to 120 kg .
The height at the shoulders is about 3.5 ft .
The record total length of a male Asiatic lion is 2.92 m including the tail.

The fur ranges in colour from ruddy-tawny, heavily speckled with black, to sandy or buffish-grey, sometimes with a silvery sheen in certain lights. Males have only moderate mane growth at the top of the head, so that their ears are always visible. The mane is scanty on the cheeks and throat with where it is only 4 in long. About half of Asiatic lion skulls from the Gir forest have divided infraorbital foramina, whereas in African lions, there is only one foramen on either side. The sagittal crest is more strongly developed, and the post-orbital area is shorter than in African lion. Skull length in adult males ranges from 330 to 340 mm , and in females from 292 to 302 mm .

Compared to African lion populations, the Asiatic lion revealed a diminished amount of genetic variation, which may result from a founder effect in the recent history of the remnant population in the Gir Forest.

Distribution

The Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Gujarat is the only habitat for the Asiatic lion where an area of 1,412.1 km2 was declared as a sanctuary for their conservation in 1965. Later, a national park covering an area of 258.71 km2 was established where no human activity is allowed. In the surrounding sanctuary only Maldharis have the right to graze their livestock.

The population recovered from the brink of extinction to 411 individuals in 2010. Lions occupy remnant forest habitats in the two hill systems of Gir and Girnar that comprise Gujarat’s largest tracts of dry deciduous forest, thorny forest and savanna and provide valuable habitat for a diverse flora and fauna. Five protected areas currently exist to protect the Asiatic lion: Gir Sanctuary, Gir National Park, Pania Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, and Girnar Sanctuary. The first three protected areas form the Gir Conservation Area, a 1,452 km2 forest block that represents the core habitat of the Asiatic lions. The other two sanctuaries, Mitiyala and Girnar, protect satellite areas within dispersal distance of the Gir Conservation Area. An additional sanctuary is being established in the nearby Barda forest to serve as an alternative home for Gir lions. The drier eastern part is vegetated with acacia thorn savanna and receives about 650 mm annual rainfall; rainfall in the west is higher at about 1,000 mm per year.

As of 2010, approximately 105 lions, comprising 35 males, 35 females, 19 subadults, and 16 cubs existed outside the Gir forest, representing a full quarter of the entire lion population. The increase in satellite lion populations may represent the saturation of the lion population in the Gir forest and subsequent dispersal by sub-adults compelled to search for new territories outside their natal pride. Over the past two decades, these satellite areas became established, self-sustaining populations as evidenced by the presence of cubs since 1995.

As of May 2015, the lion population was estimated at 523 individuals, comprising 268 individuals in the Junagadh District, 44 in the Gir Somnath District, 174 in the Amreli District and 37 in the Bhavnagar District.

Status

''Panthera leo persica'' is included on CITES Appendix I, and is fully protected in India.

Behavior

Asiatic lions live in prides. Mean pride size, measured by the number of adult females, tends to be smaller than for African lions: most Gir prides contain just two adult females, with the largest having five.
Coalitions of males defend home ranges containing one or more groups of females; but, unlike African lions, Gir males generally associate with their pride females only when mating or on a large kill. A lesser degree of sociability in the Gir lions may be a function of the smaller prey available to them: the most commonly taken species , the chital, weighs only around 50 kg .

In general, lions prefer large prey species within a weight range of 190 to 550 kg irrespective of their availability. Yet they predominately take prey substantially smaller than this, reflecting their opportunistic hunting behaviour. Within this range, they prefer species that weigh 350 kg , which is much larger than the largest recorded weight of lion. The group hunting strategy of lions enables exceptionally large prey items to be taken. Hunting success in lions is influenced by hunting-group size and composition, the hunting method used and by environmental factors such as grass and shrub cover, time of day, moon presence and terrain. Domestic cattle have historically been a major component of the Gir lions’ diet.

In 1974, the Forest Department estimated the wild ungulate population to be 9,650 individuals. This population grew consistently in subsequent surveys, reaching 31,490 in 1990 and 64,850 in 2010, consisting of 52,490 spotted deer, 4,440 wild boar, 4,000 sambar, 2,890 blue bull, 740 chinkara, and 290 four-horned antelope. Thus, in the past four decades, the population of wild ungulates increased by over ten times. In contrast, populations of domestic buffalo and cattle declined following resettlement, largely due to direct removal of resident livestock from the Gir Conservation Area. The population of 24,250 resident animals in the 1970s declined to 12,500 in the mid-1980s, but increased to 23,440 animals in 2010. Following changes in both predator and prey communities, Asiatic lions shifted their predation patterns. Today, very few livestock kills occur within the sanctuary, and instead most occur in peripheral villages. In and around the Gir forest, depredation records indicate that lions killed on average 2023 livestock annually between 2005 and 2009, and an additional 696 individuals in satellite areas.

In 2012, an Asiatic lion dragged a man from his house and killed him near the Gir forest, Amreli, India. This was the second attack in the area after a man was attacked and killed in Dhodadar.

Habitat

The Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Gujarat is the only habitat for the Asiatic lion where an area of 1,412.1 km2 was declared as a sanctuary for their conservation in 1965. Later, a national park covering an area of 258.71 km2 was established where no human activity is allowed. In the surrounding sanctuary only Maldharis have the right to graze their livestock.

The population recovered from the brink of extinction to 411 individuals in 2010. Lions occupy remnant forest habitats in the two hill systems of Gir and Girnar that comprise Gujarat’s largest tracts of dry deciduous forest, thorny forest and savanna and provide valuable habitat for a diverse flora and fauna. Five protected areas currently exist to protect the Asiatic lion: Gir Sanctuary, Gir National Park, Pania Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, and Girnar Sanctuary. The first three protected areas form the Gir Conservation Area, a 1,452 km2 forest block that represents the core habitat of the Asiatic lions. The other two sanctuaries, Mitiyala and Girnar, protect satellite areas within dispersal distance of the Gir Conservation Area. An additional sanctuary is being established in the nearby Barda forest to serve as an alternative home for Gir lions. The drier eastern part is vegetated with acacia thorn savanna and receives about 650 mm annual rainfall; rainfall in the west is higher at about 1,000 mm per year.

As of 2010, approximately 105 lions, comprising 35 males, 35 females, 19 subadults, and 16 cubs existed outside the Gir forest, representing a full quarter of the entire lion population. The increase in satellite lion populations may represent the saturation of the lion population in the Gir forest and subsequent dispersal by sub-adults compelled to search for new territories outside their natal pride. Over the past two decades, these satellite areas became established, self-sustaining populations as evidenced by the presence of cubs since 1995.

As of May 2015, the lion population was estimated at 523 individuals, comprising 268 individuals in the Junagadh District, 44 in the Gir Somnath District, 174 in the Amreli District and 37 in the Bhavnagar District.Asiatic lions live in prides. Mean pride size, measured by the number of adult females, tends to be smaller than for African lions: most Gir prides contain just two adult females, with the largest having five.
Coalitions of males defend home ranges containing one or more groups of females; but, unlike African lions, Gir males generally associate with their pride females only when mating or on a large kill. A lesser degree of sociability in the Gir lions may be a function of the smaller prey available to them: the most commonly taken species , the chital, weighs only around 50 kg .

In general, lions prefer large prey species within a weight range of 190 to 550 kg irrespective of their availability. Yet they predominately take prey substantially smaller than this, reflecting their opportunistic hunting behaviour. Within this range, they prefer species that weigh 350 kg , which is much larger than the largest recorded weight of lion. The group hunting strategy of lions enables exceptionally large prey items to be taken. Hunting success in lions is influenced by hunting-group size and composition, the hunting method used and by environmental factors such as grass and shrub cover, time of day, moon presence and terrain. Domestic cattle have historically been a major component of the Gir lions’ diet.

In 1974, the Forest Department estimated the wild ungulate population to be 9,650 individuals. This population grew consistently in subsequent surveys, reaching 31,490 in 1990 and 64,850 in 2010, consisting of 52,490 spotted deer, 4,440 wild boar, 4,000 sambar, 2,890 blue bull, 740 chinkara, and 290 four-horned antelope. Thus, in the past four decades, the population of wild ungulates increased by over ten times. In contrast, populations of domestic buffalo and cattle declined following resettlement, largely due to direct removal of resident livestock from the Gir Conservation Area. The population of 24,250 resident animals in the 1970s declined to 12,500 in the mid-1980s, but increased to 23,440 animals in 2010. Following changes in both predator and prey communities, Asiatic lions shifted their predation patterns. Today, very few livestock kills occur within the sanctuary, and instead most occur in peripheral villages. In and around the Gir forest, depredation records indicate that lions killed on average 2023 livestock annually between 2005 and 2009, and an additional 696 individuals in satellite areas.

In 2012, an Asiatic lion dragged a man from his house and killed him near the Gir forest, Amreli, India. This was the second attack in the area after a man was attacked and killed in Dhodadar.

Reproduction

The wild population of Asiatic lions is said to have derived from just a dozen individuals that had survived in the 1880s. After the Nawab of Junagadh established a sanctuary for their protection, the population increased and was roughly estimated at 70 to 200 individuals by 1930. During the first census conducted in 1936 on the basis of pugmarks, the population was estimated at 287 lions in the Junagarh state.

The population was thus thought to be highly inbred, and especially vulnerable to disease. Semen and blood samples collected from 28 wild-caught and captive-bred lions from the Gir forest showed a high incidence of morphologically abnormal spermatozoa compared to free-ranging African lions, which is nearly always associated with infertility. The Gir lion population may have suffered a drastic population bottleneck or series of bottlenecks followed by inbreeding in their recent history.

In the course of a later study, semen and blood samples were collected from seven lions in three Indian zoos. These samples showed high percentage of motile spermatozoa and low incidence of abnormal spermatozoa, thus implying that inbreeding depression had not affected these animals. The low genetic variability may be a feature of the species and not a result of inbreeding in recent times. However, the RAPD techniques used in this population genetics research have been criticized as being imprecise and having major technical and analytical drawbacks.

Predators

The Asiatic lion currently exists as a single subpopulation, and is thus vulnerable to extinction from unpredictable events, such as an epidemic or large forest fire. There are indications of poaching incidents in recent years. There are reports that organized gangs have switched attention from tigers to these lions. There have also been a number of drowning incidents after lions fell into wells.

Prior to the resettlement of Maldharis, the Gir forest was heavily degraded and used by livestock, which competed with and restricted the population sizes of native ungulates. Various studies reveal tremendous habitat recovery and increases in wild ungulate populations following the Maldhari resettlement during the last four decades.
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. Nearly 20,000 open wells dug by farmers in the area for irrigation have also acted as traps, which led to many lions drowning. To counteract the problem, suggestions for walls around the wells, as well as the use of "drilled tube wells" have been made.

Evolution

Fossil remains found in the Cromer Stage suggest that the lion entered Europe with a gigantic form. Frequently encountered lion bones in cave deposits from Eemian times suggest that the late Pleistocene European cave lion, ''Panthera leo spelaea'', survived in the Balkans and Asia Minor. There was probably a continuous population extending into India. Cave lions appeared about 600,000 years ago and were distributed throughout Europe, across Siberia and into western Alaska. The gradual formation of dense forest likely caused the decline in geographic range of lions near the end of the late Pleistocene.


Phylogenetic analysis of cave lion DNA samples showed that they were highly distinct from their living relatives, and represent lineages that were isolated from lions in Africa and Asia ever since their dispersal over Europe in prehistoric times. They went extinct without mitochondrial descendants on other continents.

Fossil remains of lions were found in Pleistocene deposits in West Bengal.
A fossil carnassial found in the Batadomba Cave indicates that ''Panthera leo sinhaleyus'' inhabited Sri Lanka during the late Pleistocene, and is thought to have become extinct around 39,000 years ago. This subspecies was described by Deraniyagala in 1939. It is distinct from the extant Asiatic lion.

Lions inhabited the southern part of the Balkan peninsula up to Macedonia and probably the Danube River, but disappeared in Greece around the first century. In the Trans-Caucasus, they were known since the Holocene and became extinct in the 10th century. Pocock suggested that their restricted distribution in India indicated that they were comparatively recent immigrants that came to India through Persia and Baluchistan.

A phylogeographic analysis based on mtDNA sequences of lions from across their entire range indicates that sub-Saharan African lions are phylogenetically basal to all modern lions. These findings support an African origin of modern lion evolution with a probable center in eastern–southern Africa, from where lions migrated to West Africa, eastern North Africa and via the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula into Turkey, southern Europe and northern India during the last 20,000 years. Natural barriers to lion dispersal comprise the Sahara Desert, equatorial rainforests and the Great Rift Valley.Following Meyer's first description of an Asiatic lion skin from Persia, other naturalists and zoologists also described lions from other parts of Asia that today are all considered synonyms of ''P. l. persica'':
⤷  In 1829, Edward Turner Bennett published a book about the animals kept in the Tower Menagerie. His essay about lions contains a drawing titled "Bengal lion ''Felis leo bengalensis''".
⤷  In 1833, Walter Smee exhibited two skins of lions killed in Gujerat in a meeting of the Zoological Society of London. He presented these skins of maneless lions under the name ''Felis leo goojratensis''.
⤷  In 1834, Sir William Jardine, 7th Baronet proposed the name ''Leo asiaticus'' for Asiatic lions.
⤷  In 1843, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville published a drawing of an Asiatic lion skull under the name ''Felis leo indicus''.