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Captive Lion and Tiger weights
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09-15-2021, 11:27 AM
( This post was last modified: 09-15-2021, 01:37 PM by LandSeaLion
Edit Reason: Corrected publication year
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A thesis by Shilpa Pradeep Parbhu (University of Johannesburg, 2019) comparing the morphological and genetic characteristics of captive lions in South Africa with those of their wild counterparts:
https://ujcontent.uj.ac.za/vital/access/services/Download/uj:33564/SOURCE1 Lions from four breeding facilities in South Africa were measured. The morphological characteristics are laid out in detail on page 28. I’ve copied most of them below; the thesis also has a few extra measurements like leg length and canine length (shoulder length is the length between the shoulder blades and the start of the tail, by the way): Facility 1 (n=23) Males (n=7) —— Average weight: 241.16 kg Average total length: 296.86cm Shoulder length: 116.43cm Abdominal girth: 159.2cm Chest girth: 149.4cm Tail length: 90.71cm Tail circumference: 30.57cm Head length: 42.84cm Head width: 31.14cm Females (n=16) —— Average weight: 149.65 kg Average total length: 250.21cm Shoulder length: 101.64cm Abdominal girth: 132.14cm Chest girth: 122.23cm Tail length: 80.31cm Tail circumference: 25.44cm Head length: 35.5cm Head width: 19.33cm Facility #2 (n=11) Males (n=4) —— Average weight: 199.65kg Average total length: 290.75cm Shoulder length: 158cm Abdominal girth: 141.5cm Chest girth: 142.25cm Tail length: 85.75cm Tail circumference: 26.25cm Head length: 44.5cm Head width: 29.75cm Females (n=7) —— Average weight: 121.23cm Average total length: 243cm Shoulder length: 134cm Abdominal girth: 115.5cm Chest girth: 112cm Tail length: 74.57cm Tail circumference: 23.25cm Head length: 35.29cm Head width: 20.43cm Facility #3 (n=11) Males (n=2) —— Average weight: 260.25kg Average total length: 298.5cm Shoulder length: 168cm Abdominal girth: 153cm Chest girth: 158cm Tail length: 93.5cm Tail circumference: 32.25cm Head length: 48cm Head width: 34cm Females (n=9) —— Average weight: 161.94kg (the boxplot on page 32 indicates that one outlier lioness weighed about 220kg) Average total length: 254.39cm Shoulder length: 134.67cm Abdominal girth: 132.89cm Chest girth: 129.44cm Tail length: 83.67cm Tail circumference: 26.72cm Head length: 35.11cm Head width: 19.63cm Facility #4 (n=81) Males (n=26) —— Average weight: 227.78kg Average total length: - Shoulder length: 155.23cm Abdominal girth: - Chest girth: - Tail length: - Tail circumference: - Head length: - Head width: - Females (n=18 - I suspect this might be a typo, given that n total is meant to be 81 for facility #4) —— Average weight: 159.82kg Average total length: - Shoulder length: 132.83cm Abdominal girth: - Chest girth: - Tail length: - Tail circumference: - Head length: - Head width: - The average weights of males and females was 229kg and 152kg respectively (compared to 190kg and 126kg for lions in the wild). Potential reasons given for the discrepancy include selective breeding for larger lions in captivity (pg 40), more regular feeding sessions (pg 42) and less room to exercise (pg 42). The captive lions in these particular facilities showed good genetic diversity, and no visible evidence of disease or malnutrition. |
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