Lions and Tigers in India

[Sully]

Another excerpt from the same book

"Just after the first world war, Maharaja Rao Scindia resolved again to intintroduce lions in Gwalior state. According to one source, lion cubs were recieved earlier from Lord Kitchener, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian army, and some lions were purchased from Mosamba. The provenance of Lord Kitchener's gift is not clear. Colonel Kesri Singh the famous shikari fron Kanota, a thinktank of Jaipur state, who was then in charge of the Shikarkhana of Gwalior state, recounts a somewhat different tale. According to him a few pairs of lions were imported from Africa and these animals were kept in a special enclosure. He does not mention the location but it was in the jungles of Shivpuri. 

One pair of lions was let out of the enclosure in August 1920 and they disappeared in the jungle without a trace. The second pair, on being released, returned to the enclosure and made its environs their home which meant that the movement of men and buffaloes became difficult in the area. The roar of caged lions had attracted tigers which often patrolled the periphery of the enclosure and therefore when the lion of this pair was found dead in a badly mutilated state it was believed to have been killed by a tiger while the lioness, it was felt, escaped the same fate."

And another case (elipses being me skipping to the relevant parts)

"The second attempt at translocation took place in Nepal in 1938-39. An African lion and lioness from the Nepal zoo were released in the terrain region of Chitwan. There was however some apprehension about zoo-bred animals being able to fend for themselves and also survive with tigers which were in abundance in the region...It may be noted that this area was teeming with tigers - six tigers and two leopards were shot in one day. A total bag of 120 tigers, 38 rhinos, 27 leopards, and 15 bears were recorded between December 1938 and March 1939...There appears to have been no conflict between the lions and tigers, in any case, the lions had been in the wild for only a month" Reply