Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

[Lycaon]

@Sanju 

This could potentially be big news for asiatic lions ! Reply

[Rishi]

(03-02-2019, 06:43 PM)Sanju Wrote: SEA LION (non pinniped)

Lion jumps into sea seeing the crowd on 2 Jan 2016

A lion entered the residential area of Gujarat which excited people all around. People flocked to see the lion, scared by which the lion jumped into the sea.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

On the rocks in a Gujarat port – ready to take a swim.

‘Asiatic lion spotted in AJK national park’
Tariq Naqash February 05, 2014
 
MUZAFFARABAD: An endangered subspecies of big cats has been spotted in a national park of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), much to the gladness of conservationists, a wildlife official claimed here on Tuesday.
Chaudhry Mohammad Razzaq, AJK wildlife and fisheries department director, said spotting of Asiatic lion, zoologically known as Panthera leo persica, was repeatedly reported from Deva Vatala National Park, spread over 7,482 acres in the southernmost Bhimber district.
Over the last five years, the wildlife department had been occasionally receiving reports about sighting of a lion by the residents or shepherds in the national park area, Mr Razzaq told Dawn.
“However, when the latest report to this effect was received from a herder in November last year I deputed a local wildlife watcher Mohammad Ashfaq for verification of the claims after giving him training for two months,” he said, adding that the watcher finally spotted the large tawny-coloured cat near Bun Cheer locality in the upper parts of the park at midday on January 31.
Article continues after ad

Giving details, Mr Razzaq said, the watcher who was accompanied by a friend suddenly came across the big cat, lying on the ground barely 20 feet ahead of them. As the large animal roared, the panicky watcher and his friend fled for their safety and in the meanwhile it disappeared in the dense forests, he added.
Mr Razzaq said the duo saw the lion once again after half an hour, as it was walking towards the Line of Control (LoC).

According to him, it was highly likely that the lion would have come from Indian-held Kashmir.
“However, repeated reports over the past few years and latest spotting suggests that the lion has settled down in the park area,” he said.
Mr Razzaq said: “We will carry out further studies with the help of Worldwide Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P) to ascertain and assess the lion’s presence and population in our area. We will ensure survival of the animal by all means,” he said.

Mr Razzaq pointed out that Asiatic Lion was the third big cat that had been spotted in AJK after common leopard (Panthera pardus) and snow leopard (Panthera uncia).
The Asiatic lion, also known as the Indian lion, has been listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered species on account of its small population size.
It exists as a single isolated population in Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the Indian state of Gujarat, which is regarded as the sole home of the Asiatic Lions and also one of the most important protected areas in Asia due to its supported species.

Content removed because of incorrect information.

That was an African lion escaped from captivity. There are no rules against keeping wild animals in houses in Pakistan & rich people do so as a show of social status. 
Wild asiatic lions have never been seen more than 100km away from Gir forest. Reply

[Sanju]

@Rishi I shared news/data I found. Never said that it's true. I do have that basic knowledge that news is not about wild lion and nonfactual and I'm about to reply Lycaon about the reality. BTW the lion pic is from Gir. Reply

[Lycaon]

Kaushal Shah

The Gentleman

*This image is copyright of its original author

  Reply

[Rishi]

(03-02-2019, 07:22 PM)Sanju Wrote: @Rishi I shared news/data I found. Never said that it's true. I do have that basic knowledge that news is nonfactual and I'm about to reply him about the reality. BTW the lion pic is from Gir.

Ok. Please try not to share incorrect news, or atleast mention clearly that it was a rumour spreaded. Even Lycaon it was true.. 

The picture too is not from that case, just a representative photo. It's been on the forum twice before with other news.. no biggie. Reply

[Rishi]

@Sanju I got a treat for you.

©Jigar Pandya

*This image is copyright of its original author

©Kan Bha Khachar

*This image is copyright of its original author

©wildlifetrails

*This image is copyright of its original author

©Moin Pathan

*This image is copyright of its original author

©Sanjay Haskar

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply

[Sanju]

hope someday we will watch "gir lion hunting" videos in action strangling it's prey ruthlessly as we cant see them filming in gir and i know that they do hunt and their diet consists wild prey too at least in some percentage. but we may get videos from kuno lion soon. @Rishi Reply

[Lycaon]

@Sanju 

Were gaur and wild water buffalo on the menu for asiatic lions? Reply

[Lycaon]

@Sanju and @Rishi 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Credits : https://www.facebook.com/9537999999Ajay/?ref=page_internal Reply

[Lycaon]

Some aggressive males all photos by Abhilash Vaja

*This image is copyright of its original author

Warning

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply

[Sanju]

(03-03-2019, 12:05 AM)Lycaon Wrote: Were gaur and wild water buffalo on the menu for asiatic lions?

Gaur are locally extinct which were once a major prey to satisfy "gir" lion pride but not now. For "Asiatic" lions as a whole, they were very important prey item. Sadly, gaur were extinct most of Central and west India so even our Kuno lions don't get gaur.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Hence, gir lions are looking proxy to that cattle and buffalo. As we know that lions always look for big game so that they can feed all mouths. Africa has lot of large herbivores left where as in Gir, biggest prey available is Sambar (max mass= around 300 kg).

In fact, Chital deer were recently reintroduced to Gir.

And coming to Asian Water Buffalo, they never lived in Gir forest or Saurashtra even in Early Holocene distribution based on Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene indicated by dashed line (after Hoffpauir, 2000). But was important for Asian Lions back then. Again sadly, Kuno lions don't get them coz they only are in Chttisgarh and Orissa or Odisha (some times); Northeast India.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply

[Sanju]

The caged lions of Gir
Are the lions of Gir forest really wild and free? Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com doesn't believe so. July 05, 2016 09:00 IST
@Rishi

*This image is copyright of its original author

The lions, lionesses and their cubs are not really free inside Gir forest. A symbiotic relationship between trackers, guides and tourists -- money being the glue -- has deprived these wild animals of their freedom.
It was a fixed match, recently. Between two lions, a lioness and umpteen tourists and guides aboard open jeeps inside Gir forest in Gujarat.
We were the spectators.
It made me ponder: Are these animals really wild and free?
It all began with an evening 'safari' -- between 3 pm to 6 pm -- in a Maruti Gypsy mid-May .
"It is easy to sight lions in the evenings as they come out of the woods to satiate their thirst near water sources," said people who had been there and done that. I believed them totally.

Others, mostly locals, said, "You won't see anything unless you show the guides the face of 'Gandhiji' (currency notes)". We believed them too.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Lion footprints dot the jungle tracks in Gir. Depending on the depth, shape and size of these footprints the guides tell you whether these belong to adult lions, lionesses or cubs

Just 10 minutes into our three-hour 3 pm safari our guide, Ketan Mashru (name not changed), also an avid, 'award-winning' (his words) photographer, tantalizingly showed us some 'lion's footprints'. But no lions.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Gir has a rich range of wildlife. The spotted deer is mostly easily sighted. Forest guides estimate that about 200,000 inhabit the 1,412 sq km forest.

By around 4.30 pm we were restless. Our adventure had been limited to spying spotted deer, neelgais, peacocks, wild boars, buffalo skulls neatly lined along the edge of the road and birds like Brahmin mainah, owlets, wild parrots. And a king vulture -- "A very rare sighting," Ketan bhai said to us as he asked the Gypsy driver to park in the middle of the jungle track and zoomed his 70-300 Nikon lens in on his quest, to click another 'award winning' image.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Buffalo skulls can be found along the jungle tracks at many places. "Safai kamgars of Gir are responsible for this," said our guide Ketanbhai, describing how hyenas don't leave an ounce of flesh or skin on a carcass.

The sight of a regal Asiatic lion still eluded us, making us wonder if there were any inside the forest.
"There are 523 lions and more than 600 leopards that roam the wilds of 1,412 sq km of Gir forest," assured Ketanbhai.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Owlets peep out of tree holes whenever guides whistle at them or make unusual noises. Many owlets, guide Rahim told us, are permanent dwellers in their respective holes and know a lot of guides.

Ketan bhai was more restless than we were. His restlessness started much earlier too.

After showing us more 'lion's footprints' on a couple of occasions, he again began softening us up for money. We told him that we had full faith in the Almighty.
And were sure He would not create any obstacles between us and the adventure thrills we sought. The lions would reveal themselves in the wilderness during the remaining 90 minutes, we hoped.

Alas, God wished otherwise! Or did Ketan bhai purposely take us along routes not often frequented by a lion's pride? We weren't sure. Of course, we enjoyed roaming in an open jeep for three hours inside a real jungle, sighting all varieties of wildlife.
Anticipating a no show on the first trip, we had booked another safari for the following morning -- 9 am to noon -- to improve our chances of a lion sighting.
Rahim Shaikh (name not changed), a lanky, dark, handsome man in his mid-20s, was our guide on this trip. We knew he too would try some stunt to make us pay to see lions in their natural habitat.

With the same rigour and vigour as Ketan bhai, Rahim showed us 'lion's footprints', the skull of a buffalo, again placed neatly by the side of the road, albeit along another route. He told us how difficult it was to spot lions once the sun beats down on the jungle.

*This image is copyright of its original author

Trackers play an important role in not only tracking and keeping count of lions and other wild animals, but they also report injuries and their health condition to the forest department authorities.

He played on our guilt too. He narrated how dangerous a tracker's job was. Trackers are forest guards who scour huge swathes of Gir forest, on two-wheelers, to keep track of the well being of the lion population, with just an axe-like weapon (a long bamboo with a small iron blade fitted at one end). At least three to four on-duty trackers get attacked by lions every year. Rahim said the government doesn't take care of their hospital bills.

*This image is copyright of its original author

King vultures are rare to sight and we did. Ketanbhai told us: "You are lucky to get their darshan" he said, offering up some consolation for the absence of lions.

Abruptly he cut the long story short and blurted out: "If you want to see a pride of 22 lions we can show it to you if you shell out Rs 2,500. And Rs 1,500 for lesser number."
Whatever happened to his declaration that lions don't venture out once the sun beats down, I wondered!
We haggled. "Rs 400."
He held his ground.
Before starting up the bargaining, Rahim received couple of calls from trackers, after which he aggressively began his hardsell.
After another 30 minutes of haggling we settled for Rs 800.

Rahim immediately used his mobile to call his tracker friends, many of them we had already spotted on their two wheelers.

Most of these guides and jeep drivers blatantly flout rules and use cell phones, which are banned by the Gujarat forest department. There are random inspections by officers. But nobody f****ing gets caught.

This is how the system works: https://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/t...160704.htm

VIDEO: Trackers roam fearlessly behind a pride after "herding" (@Lycaon) them towards tourists . One of these trackers can be seen in the video (red circle) walking into the bushes from where he shoved a lioness (not in the video) towards the tourists

The trackers spot the animals and pass messages to guides accompanying tourists in jeeps. These guides then start softening up the tourists for money and negotiations begin.

Guides like Rahim keep underlining to tourists that they will miss the chance of a lifetime if they don't pay up for the spectacle. Guides well know that tourists like us have come from faraway places to see lions and wouldn't mind spending a thousand more to make sure a trip is not a flop.

Once the guide fixes a deal he conveys the message to the trackers. After the trackers collects 10 to 12 such messages from the guides, they organize for the tourists to be brought to the closest spot.

*This image is copyright of its original author

This lioness was least interested in showing herself and preferred to walk back into the woods leaving behind her male companions.

Meanwhile two to three trackers go a bit deeper into the woods and shepherd the poor pride towards the tourists. They use their long bamboo-blades to shake the ground and wake up the pride.  

Quote:The lions are surrounded from three sides and the pride has nowhere else to go but towards the tourists, who are ready with their cellphones, video cameras and DSLRs.
When the trackers shake the ground near the lions they do one of two things: They either roar back angrily and don't budge. Or they stand up and start walking towards the tourists. A lion's angry reply is a warning signal and the trackers leave them alone.

We got to view two lions and a lioness from a distance of less than seven or eight metres. Two males came very close to our jeep and sat down to rest under a tree, breathing heavily. But the lioness walked away from the tourists.

*This image is copyright of its original author

These two lions looked very tired as they walked towards the tourists and then lazed under the shade of a tree, breathing heavily.

We did get to see lions. But the thrill was definitely missing. There was no adventure in it at all. No rush of blood. We knew the lions had been herded towards us. It felt like seeing caged lions inside the forest.

It is really sad to realize that these wild animals are controlled like tamed beasts by the Gir trackers. Tourists like us are equally culpable.

We are all part of a rotten system that disturbs these majestic beasts in their natural habitat by demanding lion sightings and willingly paying bribes. The guides and trackers are just supply conduits.

Photographs and video: Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com
Prasanna D Zore / Rediff.com Reply

[Lycaon]

@Sanju 

I never understood why these trackers are so close to the lions. I also read that article about them herding the lions towards tourist. There is just too much trickery and deception going on in the gir area unfortunately. Reply

[Rage2277]

*This image is copyright of its original author

 big boy in gujarat..wanna see lions like this in kuno photo by Harshad Chamdiya‎ Reply

[Sanju]

@Rage2277

Hope they select this lion (in your last post) in those chosen 2 males, to relocate to Kuno.

Another male I hope to get selected is him: #818 post
video
Reply