Asiatic Lion Reintroduction Project

[GuateGojira]

Although there is doubt about if the lions were native from India, we can't doubt that lions found they best place in Gir. This area never had tigers, it is very dry and had a good prey base until the arise of men. However, is also interesting that there is not a single lion fossil in Gir, just a few "Panthera sp." which are no larger than a large leopard.

Lions in Gir, despite they low large-prey base and high inbreed, is practically thriving at 2014, there are simple too many lions!!! The new mentality of the Government in Gujarat have created an excellent place for lions, they actually protect them and althoug it is not perfect, it have showed good results. When the first studies with radiocollared lions in India began, they showed that almost half of they diet was based in feral cattle and domestic buffalo. Now, with good programs, the wild prey base is high and lions now mostly eat wild animals, not cattle.

Under these circumstances, lions in Gir are perfectly adapted and like some alien species (if they are), they are now capable of create a sustained population with an stable level, in the absence of natural competitors. The only problem here is the low genetic variation and the possibility of a epidemic that can kill the entire population.
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