Modern Weights and Measurements of Wild Lions

[LandSeaLion]

Here’s a recently published study by Donaldson et al (2023) on the effects of tranquillisation on free-roaming lions in Kruger National Park. The body mass of these lions was an important factor in the effectiveness of the chemical drugs.

https://jsava.co.za/index.php/jsava/article/download/544/495/3020

23 females and 13 males were involved in the study, with a range in body masses from 74kg to 225.5kg (mean 143.9kg, standard deviation 31.6kg). Their ages ranged from 10 months to 12 years. They were attracted to the capture site using zebra carcasses as bait, and tranquillised once they began feeding. Body condition was subjectively scored on a scale from 1 (severely underweight) to 9 (obese), and belly size from 1 (extremely distended) to 5 (empty). These lions were judged as ranging between 2-4.5 on body condition (averaging about 4) and their belly size between 1-3 (full to moderate). 

Edit: See also the below two posts, from earlier in this thread. The 247.5kg male below was apparently treated as an outlier and thus not included in the paper’s results. Thanks @Charger01! :)

(02-03-2023, 02:52 PM)Jerricson Wrote:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

This was one of the Kruger lions captured last year for a study.

(02-05-2023, 07:41 PM)Bruceenzo Wrote:

(02-03-2023, 02:52 PM)杰里森 Wrote:

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

这是去年为一项研究捕获的克鲁格狮子之一。

This is their paper. These lions ate bait before being measured. It was made of zebra meat.

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