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Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 05-12-2018, 03:27 PM by Rishi )

I might not be active for the next few months.
So, i'm posting whatever "data, pictures & videos" i had left...

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chaos Offline
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( This post was last modified: 08-07-2018, 04:26 PM by Rishi )

In light of some of the recent postings, my overall perception of the Indian lion being far inferior - physically - to their African counterparts, is slowly changing.
Greatto see pics of vibrant, robust, healthy individuals. Good sign the inferior, inbred genes in the pool may slowly be working their way out.
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Romania Spalea Offline
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Frankly, I admit to have been wrong. Because of the asiatic lions descend from a dozen individuals, I believed they were consangineous, thus weakened...With a photo such the third of the #266, I'm noting with pleasure there are some very robust specimens. That's fine !
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United States Garfield Offline
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I agree simply put, these are some impressive Asiatic lions, I think they're holding their own in strength with any cat species African lion or tiger.  Definitely  surprising, didn't realize this.  The skull of the Asiatic lion is looking strong too, something seems different about it, not sure what that is.

Great videos too, its pretty cool the lions are really making their way around even into the civilization, hope they don't get shot.  What I don't get is, does the Indian lion have prides, I wasn't sure about that, I mean do they hang out with the females and stuff?
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 07-18-2019, 07:52 AM by Rishi )

(04-27-2017, 05:21 AM)Garfield Wrote: I agree simply put, these are some impressive Asiatic lions, I think they're holding their own in strength with any cat species African lion or tiger.  Definitely  surprising, didn't realize this.  The skull of the Asiatic lion is looking strong too, something seems different about it, not sure what that is.

Great videos too, its pretty cool the lions are really making their way around even into the civilization, hope they don't get shot.  What I don't get is, does the Indian lion have prides, I wasn't sure about that, I mean do they hang out with the females and stuff?

Yes, they hang out with females & family...i have posted some such images.  Lol 



Just family sizes are limited due to habitat related reasons. While in low cover of Savannah or semi-arid scrub numbers help do encircling manoeuvres, in a dry forest, crunching leaves from 5-7 lions' footfall would prematurely blow cover. Otherwise nilgai & cattle (~40% of diet) weigh 500kgs & should support larger prides.
the largest one, Kamleshwar pride (in video) even managed to reach a total of 32.

Usually they start as this, a mating pair, or a two female-two brother coalition...

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Once their female cubs start to have their own litter & numbers cross a dozen (including sub-adult cubs) most hunts take place in more efficient groups of 2-4 & when rest of the pride comes to their hard-earned kill, tempers flare..eventually fragmenting the pride in to subgroups.

Younger daughters often move out with their sisters or female cubs, in a much tiger-like fashion...

As far as the males are concerned, unlike African plains & desserts, they can't see everything upto 5 kms away..& thus, spend a lot of their time patrolling the woods from ever-increasing number or trespassers. 
They mostly keep to themselves...
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United States Garfield Offline
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That's really cool, so its like smaller pairs a lot of the time and then maybe the males are hunting together or maybe two females hunting, then breaking off into more groups of pairs from the prides when they're older.  But I guess the will is still there, if they could form a larger pride, they would as that one clip shows.
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Rishi Offline
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Smile  ( This post was last modified: 04-20-2018, 04:07 PM by Rishi )

As far as the genetic variety of Asiatic lions is concerned, i admit of not having much knowledge of it...but, this much is evident, that they surely don't look alike.
What i can tell is, they have more than half-a-dozen different mane patterns that I personally can identify (not official)...but they work, you can take ANY asiatic lion & it WILL fit into one or the other. FEEL FREE TO GIVE IT A TRY!!! 

There are three common factors; 
  1. There's no mane on forehead.
  2. The mane clings to the body at the sides.
  3. The mane is absent from upper shoulders.
The Normal
The most common one, typical start from back of forehead & continues till behind the shoulders along spine. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

The Outcrop
"The Normal" with that growth on the head, some has two along the ears as well.

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The Fade
Thin mane without distinctive boundaries. At places top-of-head, side-of-neck the mane might shorten to almost disappear.

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The Adolescent
Makes even this battle scarred veteran look like a sub-adult.

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The Collar
Concentrated like a ruff along the neck & throat.

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The Phantom
There's mane where it should be, but half-inch-short-of-an-inch in length.

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The Bearded Horse
Horse-like mane behind neck, beard-like mane below throat.

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The Embarrassment
To see adult lions with any lesser mane you'd have to goto Tsavo.

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At cold European climate, the ones in captivity grow a lush mane which they don't in Singapore or Malayasian or Indian zoos, within only a generation!

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Only the survival of the gene matters.
As long as it's still out there, it might show itself later someday. 

Gir is very close to the sea & not very cold..
https://www.yr.no/place/India/Gujarat/Sa...stics.html )
Winter temperatures of some forested hilly tracts in Rajasthan can reach as low a minimum as 0°C at times.
Only time will tell...
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Romania Spalea Offline
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@Rishi :

About #272: very interesting, thank for sharing this. !

What I told about the dozen specimens remained alive at the beginning of the XXth century and their genes was only assertion, speculation, of my part, I recognize it. It seemed to me that a so low remanent population level could only lead to a genetic deadlock: consanguinity, weakened individuals, visible monotypes... Lions are big animals... Of course there are others exemples of animals population arise of a very low number of specimens. All the golden hamsters for exemple that we see nowadays derive from an only one thirty or so specimens population of origin discovered in the asiatic Middle East a century ago. But the lions are not (golden) hamsters !

Very glad to see I completely was in the wrong.

I saw an asiatic lion at the "Tierpark zoo" of East Berlin exactly like in the last photo of the #272, but in the year 2000. But the case of the captive animals is different.
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-22-2018, 06:51 AM by Rishi )

(04-27-2017, 10:36 AM)Spalea Wrote: I saw an asiatic lion at the "Tierpark zoo" of East Berlin exactly like in the last photo of the #272, but in the year 2000. But the case of the captive animals is different.

India have sent to 53 zoos in 50 years 

If one of two siblings is kept in an Asian zoo & the other in an European zoo, the former grow up to look like this...

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..& the latter like this.

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Almost ALL readily grows belly mane, flank mane is a bit rarer, even if the mane is shorter & bristly...Reminds you of artworks like this one from 1864.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Now, whether these are due to effects of more-than-enough-food-plus-supplements, or some hidden-old-genes-gotten-a-chance-to-arise-in-cold-weather... 
I don't know for sure!!!

Because unlike South African canned lion for "hunts", which also sport flank & belly mane very often, THESE ARE NOT SELECTIVELY BRED TO LOOK LIKE THAT (Actually the inferior stock that are rescued from wild form the captive population. Capture of wild specimens is forbidden now).

I once wrote a similar post about this ( Size of Barbary lion ).
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United States Garfield Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-20-2018, 04:15 PM by Rishi )

That Bengal lion drawing looks just like captive Asiatic lion.  More great pics, those maneless Asiatic lions look really strong.
I was surfing some youtube vids, ran into this what looks to be a pretty healthy strong Asiatic lion mating.  Not sure if only the strongest males get to mate, I just heard lions fight a lot for mating rights.  But yeah, seems to be a lot of decently healthy Asiatic lion's turning up.  I still wonder though if the African lions are taller, not sure about that, or have bigger shoulders.




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United States Pckts Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-28-2017, 11:59 PM by Pckts )

@Garfield 
African lions are larger, close in dimensions but much thicker. I've spoke to numerous people who've seen both and they all say the same.
The mane could play a role in that though.
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United States Garfield Offline
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(04-28-2017, 11:58 PM)Pckts Wrote: @Garfield 
African lions are larger, close in dimensions but much thicker. I've spoke to numerous people who've seen both and they all say the same.
The mane could play a role in that though.

What about the arms though, are the Asiatic lion's arms stronger or thicker, African's are longer right?
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 12-07-2019, 03:34 PM by Rishi )

(04-29-2017, 12:38 AM)Garfield Wrote:
(04-28-2017, 11:58 PM)Pckts Wrote: @Garfield 
African lions are larger, close in dimensions but much thicker. I've spoke to numerous people who've seen both and they all say the same.
The mane could play a role in that though.

What about the arms though, are the Asiatic lion's arms stronger or thicker, African's are longer right?

You really can't generelise like that..Even the term "African Lion" is kinda incorrect, given that Africa houses 5 different accepted subspecies & i'm not counting the claimed Ethiopian & extinct Barbary.

Both populations have their fair share of skinny animals & as of now, Asians might have more of them. 
The numbers took 100 years to recover, genepool should take longer... UNLESS human factors are involved, eg: Transfer of healthier individuals done to assure success of reintroduction projects.

Quote:@Pckts 

The mane could play a role in that though.

This is the only statement i'm very confident about. Their mane DEFINITELY plays a role. This is the largest mane on a wild Asiatic lion i've ever seen...
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..compared to his East African "twin" from Serengeti, Tanzania.

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Also instead of doing its job & make the lion look bigger, the Asian breed's body hugging mane has detrimental effects on its looks, making it look skinnier!
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-29-2017, 04:20 PM by Rishi )


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 Found this on a taxidermy site.

Apparently this, is was an wild Asiatic lion pride male (they wrote Alpha) hunting trophy, or atleast that's what the source said...
origin/timing weren't specified though.
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Rishi Offline
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( This post was last modified: 04-10-2018, 09:21 AM by Rishi )

Some specimens in captivity in various Indian zoos & safari-parks, a few of them are presently deceased (We don't breed Africans or Crosses anymore).


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These ones, i think, are hybrids.

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