Size of Okavango Delta Lions and Lionesses

[Dr Panthera]

(02-05-2016, 02:03 AM)Pckts Wrote: I firmly believe in the same.
Every area I have seen always has a large individual and a small one and everything in between. 

Crazy info about the lion, we don't know who actually weighed the lion do we?

Interesting that they would use skulls to determine records since the correlation between skull size and mass isn't as accurate as body length.
They use the same scoring system for bears as well, correct?

I want to say Bruce Patterson of the Chicago Field Museum but I am not 100% sure, the skeleton is long and robust and the NKM is worth a visit if you go to Nairobi not just for that specimen but for all the natural wonders of Kenya.
Hunters use that skull measurement for all carnivores.

A clarification: The Ngorongoro Crater is a protected area so no hunter has hunted lions for a long time, the 28 10/16'' records are from colonial times so I am reluctant to consider them, the closest places in northern Tanzania to the Crater/Serengeti protected areas show current measurements in the range of 27 8/16'' similar to records from the Okavango and Kalahari.
There are several 28" plus readings from Timbavati South Africa, but South African records may include animals from Canned Hunting versus purely free-ranging animals, when I request clarification from the hunters they usually decline when they know my interest in conserving cats versus shooting them.

For comparison sake I will note the largest other cats trophy measures were as follows:
Bengal Tiger Uttar Pradesh 1968     25 6/16''
Indochinese Tiger Vietnam 1658     21 3/16''
Sumatran Tiger Indonesia 1968       22 4/16'' All tigers in the world are now protected from "sport hunting"
Jaguar Chaco-Paraguay                  20 12/16''
Leopard Okavango                         19  11/16''
Puma Alberta Canada                     16 1/16''
Puma Las Pampas Argentina            16 3/16''
Cheetah Namibia                            14 13/16'' Reply