Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos

[Akuma_no_mi]

(06-19-2014, 04:17 AM)Pckts Wrote: Using the little reliable information available, the Barbary lion (female and male) had a head-body length of 160-190 cm, a shoulder height of 80-100 cm and a greatest skull length with an average of 372.3 mm in males and 318.3 mm in females. These sizes are about the same than those of Indian and West Africa, with the exception of the relative larger skulls. 
With the weight issue, judging by its body size and skull dimensions, Barbary lions probably weighed up to 200 kg (and much less in average, probably between 160-170 kg) although there is the possibility of some exceptional specimens of probably up to 230 kg like the East African lions, or even 250 kg like the Southern African lions, but this last figure will be probably just an exaggeration in the northern areas of Africa. There is only a single report of Gérard of males up to 270-300 kg, but these are simple estimations and are completely unreliable, even Yamaguchi accept this.

 
The idea of its large size came from the large mane, but there are several captive Indian lions with heavy manes that weight less than 160 kg. There are several large lions with heavy manes in private facilities available in the web and the hard-core-lion-fans proclaim without any evidence that they are “Barbary”, but the truth is that none of them is pure Barbary or from any other population. Besides, any captive lion in cold climate can develop a large mane, so the mane is the worst factor to detect a Barbary lion.

*This image is copyright of its original author

 
Again, here is the link of the TRUE data: http://animalbattle.yuku.com/topic/55/The-size-of-the-Barbary-lion#.UxZAHIX4JXY

Info on the barbary lions size compared to that of indian lions


Here is some tables on the evolutionary tree between lion subspeciesBarnett et al. (2009) confirms that Barbary lions and those from India are the about the same, genetically speaking.Here is the image of the evolutionary tree of the three different taxas of “lions”, plus a little ad

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Interesting, the DNA analysis showed that Barbary and Indian lions are about the same, even more closely related than some Cave lion population between them (intra-specifically).
 
This supports even more, the theory of Thapar et al. (2013), that lions from India were originated from Africa, and that the particular population of Gir probably came from the lions exported by the Mughals and Alexander the great, which take them from North Africa and Persia.
http://animalbattle.yuku.com/topic/55/Th...6IcQbGfY09


All of this is thanks to Gaute's hard work, hope this helps





 
 

Hey Pkcts! Apologies for opening this thread after such a long time!

The reason I opened this one is because a group of 29 researchers recently published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) ; here's the link to study: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1919423117. They generated the whole-genome sequence of extinct and living lions.

And, based on their research, they made two shocking claims (quoting directly from the study):

1. "Similarly, mitochondrial data from this study (SI Appendix, Fig. S1) and previous studies (12, 14) suggested that extinct North African lions shared a more recent common ancestor with Asiatic, rather than West African lions, which is incongruent with genome-wide data strongly linking North African lions with West African lions "    

And one of the conclusions of the study 

2. "Furthermore, they [our results] may be relevant to the Indian subcontinent, where today lions are only found around the Gir Forest on the Kathiawar Peninsula of Gujarat. First, consistent with previous publications (34, 46), we found no evidence to support the recent claim that the remaining population is not indigenous to the region, but instead were introduced from outside of India (47, V. Thapar, R. Thapar, Y. Ansari, Exotic Aliens: The Lion & The Cheetah in India, (Aleph Book Company, New Delhi, 2013).) as our Indian lions are clearly genetically distinct to the other sampled populations ".

Since you seem to be the foremost authority on Asiatic lions on the forum, I'd like to get your opinion on: 1. What your thoughts are on the research methods the researchers have used and 2. What mistakes do you think the researchers have made with regard to this study?  (FWIW, I believe you are right the Gir lions were introduced by Mughals and Alexander).

Thank you very much! Reply

[BigLion39]

Wow thats interesting! Great find! Reply

[Hello]

He would've been 200-220 kg in his prime.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

https://www.korkeasaari.fi/urosleijonan-aani-on-vaiennut-korkeasaaressa/ Reply

[Hello]

A video of Mohan 

Reply

[Spalea]

I come just to discover and see this video dated from the 22th March 2023 and related by a South-African girl coming into the Gir forest in order to watch, for her first time, some lions in wild. Interesting too for those willing to plan such an expedition, before entering the Park.

" Lions in INDIA? That's correct! In the state of Gujarat, you will find Gir Forest National Park, the home of the last Asiatic Lions. These lions used to roam far and wide from Turkey into Asia, but now only 600(and something) individuals call this last region there home. In this video, we head into Gir Forest to try and find some lions, during a true lion safari. " Reply

[Rishi]

(10-03-2023, 01:30 PM)BigLion39 Wrote:

(10-02-2023, 10:31 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: *This image is copyright of its original author @BigLion39  just a few i got way more these males are easily above devraj this is what real gir lions look like.

Sorry bro but we clearly see 2 different things.. Devraj is clearly a more impressive specimen, for an Asiatic lion, than those examples you've posted. IMHO, currently the most impressive Asiatic lion i have seen. Not sure if were gonna agree on this.

Devraj isn't too big, he's tall & slim... He just got good mane that makes him look larger than he is (like mane is supposed to do).

You can see this is you compare him with some other lions who got large Mane too.

Reply

[BA0701]

(04-30-2024, 10:47 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(10-03-2023, 01:30 PM)BigLion39 Wrote:

(10-02-2023, 10:31 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: *This image is copyright of its original author @BigLion39  just a few i got way more these males are easily above devraj this is what real gir lions look like.

Sorry bro but we clearly see 2 different things.. Devraj is clearly a more impressive specimen, for an Asiatic lion, than those examples you've posted. IMHO, currently the most impressive Asiatic lion i have seen. Not sure if were gonna agree on this.

Devraj isn't too big, he's tall & slim... He just got good mane that makes him look larger than he is (like mane is supposed to do).

You can see this is you compare him with some other lions who got large Mane too.

@Rishi , my friend, how are you? It is great to see you, I hope all is well out in the field. Do stay well! Reply

[Mapokser]

Does anyone knows if/when lions will be given another home besides Gir Forest?

To my understand they need more space ASAP. Reply

[Rishi]

(04-30-2024, 11:12 PM)BA0701 Wrote:

(04-30-2024, 10:47 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(10-03-2023, 01:30 PM)BigLion39 Wrote:

(10-02-2023, 10:31 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: *This image is copyright of its original author @BigLion39  just a few i got way more these males are easily above devraj this is what real gir lions look like.

Sorry bro but we clearly see 2 different things.. Devraj is clearly a more impressive specimen, for an Asiatic lion, than those examples you've posted. IMHO, currently the most impressive Asiatic lion i have seen. Not sure if were gonna agree on this.

Devraj isn't too big, he's tall & slim... He just got good mane that makes him look larger than he is (like mane is supposed to do).

You can see this is you compare him with some other lions who got large Mane too.

@Rishi , my friend, how are you? It is great to see you, I hope all is well out in the field. Do stay well!

Hi.. Doing well, hope y'all are too. I almost got completely off social media for a while. You'll see more of me in future surely. Reply

[Ashutosh]

@Mapokser, after 137 years Asiatic lions were seen in Barda Wildlife sanctuary in January, 2023. This sanctuary is proposed to be the 2nd home for Asiatic lions. Lots of preparations are to be done in order to maintain a viable resident population of Asiatic lions and those efforts are ongoing. The proposal is to translocate 40 lions from Gir.

The distance between Gir and Barda is about 175 kilometres with Girnar as a pit stop in between. Dispersing lions have already made these areas their home with one population residing near Porbandar (next to the sea).

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/gujarat/after-gir-barda-wildlife-sanctuary-proposed-as-second-home-for-asiatic-lions-2754937 Reply

[BA0701]

(05-01-2024, 10:51 AM)Rishi Wrote:

(04-30-2024, 11:12 PM)BA0701 Wrote:

(04-30-2024, 10:47 PM)Rishi Wrote:

(10-03-2023, 01:30 PM)BigLion39 Wrote:

(10-02-2023, 10:31 PM)Rage2277 Wrote: *This image is copyright of its original author @BigLion39  just a few i got way more these males are easily above devraj this is what real gir lions look like.

Sorry bro but we clearly see 2 different things.. Devraj is clearly a more impressive specimen, for an Asiatic lion, than those examples you've posted. IMHO, currently the most impressive Asiatic lion i have seen. Not sure if were gonna agree on this.

Devraj isn't too big, he's tall & slim... He just got good mane that makes him look larger than he is (like mane is supposed to do).

You can see this is you compare him with some other lions who got large Mane too.

@Rishi , my friend, how are you? It is great to see you, I hope all is well out in the field. Do stay well!

Hi.. Doing well, hope y'all are too. I almost got completely off social media for a while. You'll see more of me in future surely.

That is great to hear, I look forward to it! Reply

[GhostCatP-22]

(05-01-2024, 12:09 PM)Ashutosh Wrote: @Mapokser, after 137 years Asiatic lions were seen in Barda Wildlife sanctuary in January, 2023. This sanctuary is proposed to be the 2nd home for Asiatic lions. Lots of preparations are to be done in order to maintain a viable resident population of Asiatic lions and those efforts are ongoing. The proposal is to translocate 40 lions from Gir.

The distance between Gir and Barda is about 175 kilometres with Girnar as a pit stop in between. Dispersing lions have already made these areas their home with one population residing near Porbandar (next to the sea).

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/gujarat/after-gir-barda-wildlife-sanctuary-proposed-as-second-home-for-asiatic-lions-2754937

This has been on the books for years but the province that gir and the lions are in won’t allow them to travel or be relocated as they say it is their heritage to be protected. Also theoretically they want to keep the monopoly on having the only wild Asian lion population.
It’s been so bad that even the court system has ordered the province to allow some lions translocated.

I’m not an expert o this and I’m just a random enthusiast so please excuse me if I am incorrect. Reply

[Ashutosh]

@GhostCatP-22 Barda wildlife sanctuary is located in Gujarat itself, the same province that is also where Gir is located. The other site out of state that has been mooted is Kuno (where cheetahs were released) which also has some presence of tigers (it is contiguous with some forests of Ranthambore).

Barda is not yet a pristine wildlife sanctuary where the translocation could take place. Currently, a spotted deer population is being supplemented. There is also the need to remove as much human presence as possible.

But, the first lion (a 3.5 year old wandering male) has already made Barda its home. It is very likely that even without the translocation, the lions will come to occupy Barda and its neighbouring forests.

The heritage and monopoly that you speak doesn’t apply to Barda. Reply

[Hello]

*This image is copyright of its original author

180 kg male, 11 years old
https://www.frankfurt-tipp.de/en/index/news/s/ugc/welcome-kumar-frankfurt-zoo-welcomes-a-new-lion.html

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Reply