There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
05-30-2018, 06:32 PM( This post was last modified: 05-30-2018, 06:43 PM by Wolverine )
Interesting. That's a weight of lion from Southern part of Africa.
As we already tried to explain with Rishi contemporary Indian lion is not smaller than other lion subspecies from Africa. Yes, obviously Asiatic lions have some inbreeding problems and that sometimes could be noticed on their faces but inbreeding didn't affect their size.
05-30-2018, 08:47 PM( This post was last modified: 05-30-2018, 08:51 PM by Pckts )
We'd need to know the number of individuals, age, condition, body measurements and stomach contents first but I'd say the 160kg-200kg range is on the smaller end of the spectrum for healthy Male lions, based off of measured individuals, you'd have to assume Asiatic lions are slightly smaller at the top end compared to their African cousins but there are many other factors that would come into play, females seem to show this even more so than their male counterparts.
The following 1 user Likes Pckts's post:1 user Likes Pckts's post • BlakeW39
It's written 175-200 kg for males, not 160-200 kg...
Of course you are right that this short answer of Dr Jhala is not a scientific text, hopefully this zoologist will publish more detailed data and the wide spread delusion that Indian lion is smaller will be overcomed. Nevertheless its a big success for Rishi that he entered into connection with that zoologist.
05-31-2018, 05:44 AM( This post was last modified: 05-31-2018, 09:22 AM by Rishi )
(05-31-2018, 04:40 AM)Wolverine Wrote: Of course you are right that this short answer of Dr Jhala is not a scientific text, hopefully this zoologist will publish more detailed data and the wide spread delusion that Indian lion is smaller will be overcomed. Nevertheless its a big success for Rishi that he entered into connection with that zoologist.
Dude, don't call him "this zoologist...that zoologist"! The man is a legend.
(05-30-2018, 08:47 PM)Pckts Wrote: We'd need to know the number of individuals, age, condition, body measurements and stomach contents first but I'd say the 160kg-200kg range is on the smaller end of the spectrum for healthy Male lions, based off of measured individuals, you'd have to assume Asiatic lions are slightly smaller at the top end compared to their African cousins but there are many other factors that would come into play, females seem to show this even more so than their male counterparts.
From what's been gathered on Wildfact, their lowest & highest weights measured in males are about 145 kg to 225 kg respectively.
Thus i am certain that he'd just provided approximate weight range, within which healthy adults usually scale. Otherwise it's as you stated above, weight value for even a single individual can't be stated without adjoining information about said individual.
Still, coming from him, their average weight might be similar to Africans.
I agree with you about the top end. 500lb+ specimens are yet to be recorded post-1950 (as far as i know ofcourse). Could be because of the dip in genetic diversity.
About #470: In a deserted suburb a couple of lions was seen being mating and marauding... Nothing anormal, I just hope they will not be violently apprehended. We see here the whole problematic of the actual India lions...
There are certain forests that stay close to your heart for some reason. Especially how you emotionally connect to the denizens of that forests.
And, I have few forests with which I emotionally connect due to certain animals character that the forests bring out.
This Asiatic Lion goes by the name Raju. He had the swag and he defended his territory till the last mile. This injury was caused by two sub-adult lions which tried to take over his territory.
Every year June 1st, this guy comes to my mind as he left to a better world. People who have spent time with him know what a bold guy he was. It's his 3rd death anniversary.
This is an unfortunate event captured in video. It seems Gir lion are behaving like Pet. This is serious concern for both, For authority and for lions. If this is the way lion are behaving they are loosing their basic instinct against human.
06-08-2018, 05:41 AM( This post was last modified: 07-26-2019, 06:06 PM by Rishi )
(06-08-2018, 12:27 AM)sanjay Wrote: This is an unfortunate event captured in video. It seems Gir lion are behaving like Pet. This is serious concern for both, For authority and for lions. If this is the way lion are behaving they are loosing their basic instinct against human.
Its FB video, click to play
Yes, it's a massive headache right now... the baiting.
This is pretty regular around proper Gir, where tourists come. Incidents of hoteliers & farmers-turned-guides doing such stuff for attracting tourists, are all over the news. The was a time when this was rampant around Corbett TR but unlike this case it was being done by resort owners & canceling a few licenses stopped it easily.
These people buy old, sick (another fear-factor) animals cheap from poultries or slaughter houses or herders & present them to the local lion cubs. Lions & tigers are suckers for free meals. Within a few months, they get the drill & start expecting food, which usually leads to dead people at some point in he future. Chances are, that lioness never even learnt to hunt & lives solely on baits, it's practically a pet indeed. This is more common in areas with less feral cattle or forest patches with prey. This is how it started during her cubhood...
Worse thing is, legally they can only be arrested (non-bailable) & fined. So, In this kind of situation Indian police has to improvise & they gave these guys a sound thrashing. To have any chance of countering this we first need a legal amendment.
06-22-2018, 05:09 PM( This post was last modified: 06-22-2018, 06:32 PM by Rishi )
Quick, decisive & commendable move by Gujarat governance. In Gujarat govt’s blueprint for saving lions: new laws, hiring informers, increased safaris.
Teasing, harassing or illegally attracting a lion’s attention in Greater Gir can now attract punishment on the lines of poaching.
*This image is copyright of its original author
The Gujarat government on Tuesday declared that anybody harassing the Asiatic lions by organizing illegal lion shows, chasing lions on vehicles and making illegal video clips of the Big Cats will now attract serious penal action under section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Said acts would now tantamount to hunting & perpetrators would be imprisoned for up to seven years.
The state forest minister Ganpat Vasava told, “We have asked the forest officials to invoke hunting charges under section 9 of the act as any illegal activity such as holding illegal lion shows, harassing lions in speeding vehicles and even making clips of the Big Cats on mobile phones falls in the ambit of hunting." Vasava added, “Hunting as per the act does not only mean the killing of lions but also applies to harassing of the schedule I animal that, directly or indirectly, can eventually lead to it's harm."
In the last two years, at least 38 cases of illegal activities, like conducting lion shows by baiting and harassing the felines by chasing them by vehicles in and around the Gir wildlife sanctuary have come to light & series of videos had gone viral. The government has decided to employ police department like “informers” to curb such incidents.
Vasava said that the Forest Department, in collaboration with the Tourism Department, has also decided to increase the number of lion safaris in the protected areas for tourists. “People tend to see lions through illegal activities like lion shows when they cannot see them in (legal) safaris. So, we have decided to increase the number of such safari permits from 750 to 1,110 in a week,” he said.
For that, the Forest Minister also announced to develop a new tourism zone at Chikhalkuba village of Amreli district in order “to decrease the load of tourists on Sasan Tourism Zone”. “The lion safaris will start in the sanctuary area of Girnar mountain. Simultaneously, new safari routes will be added to Sasan zone,” he added.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Gujarat government led by Vijay Rupani held a review meeting on the issue. The meeting concentrated on chalking out a strategy to decrease human intervention in jungles and also to form a plan for the conservation of Asiatic lions.
The meeting was held on Tuesday, Vasava declared 13-point conservation plan to put a stop on the man-animal conflict in Asiatic lion habitat. The population of these lions is 650 as per census 2017, spread over 22,000 sq.km across 1500 villages.
The government has also announced to form a single authority to manage the whole lionscape which is currently managed by 4 seperate forest circles.
apart from the Gir Sanctuary, lions have settled or mobility in revenue areas and small forest areas. And therefore, a new division will be set up in Amreli under the control of Chief Conservator of Forest (Junagadh Wildlife Circle), covering nine talukas of Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.
The government is also set to declare an area of 109 square kilometre from Amreli and Bhavnagar districts as Conservation Reserve, under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, that have been witnessing movement of lions outside the sanctuary area.
(Underthe Act, four kinds of protective areas can be notified in India — sanctuary, national park, conservation and community reserve.)
The government’s decisions follow recent High Court’s order, which directed it to file a fresh affidavit, giving details of the specific steps taken in the last couple of years to stop death of lions in and around the Gir forest caused by open wells, electrocution, vehicular traffic among others.
Also, the state government is keen on moving lions to newer sanctuaries within the state. Dushyant Vasavda, Chief Conservator of Forests, said: We are considering the translocation of lions but within the state. We have already identified new alternative sanctuaries; one in Porbandar called the Barda Sanctuary and one near Rajkot named Rampura Sanctuary. As of now, we are building a prey base for lions in these sanctuaries. Once we have enough game to go around for the lions, the wild cats will be moved out.
06-22-2018, 06:13 PM( This post was last modified: 06-22-2018, 06:32 PM by Rishi )
(06-22-2018, 05:09 PM)Rishi Wrote: Quick, decisive & commendable move by Gujarat governance. In Gujarat govt’s blueprint for saving lions: new laws, hiring informers, increased safaris.
Teasing, harassing or illegally attracting a lion’s attention in Greater Gir can now attract punishment on the lines of poaching.
*This image is copyright of its original author
The Gujarat government on Tuesday declared that anybody harassing the Asiatic lions by organizing illegal lion shows, chasing lions on vehicles and making illegal video clips of the Big Cats will now attract serious penal action under section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Said acts would now tantamount to hunting & perpetrators would be imprisoned for up to seven years.
The state forest minister Ganpat Vasava told, “We have asked the forest officials to invoke hunting charges under section 9 of the act as any illegal activity such as holding illegal lion shows, harassing lions in speeding vehicles and even making clips of the Big Cats on mobile phones falls in the ambit of hunting." Vasava added, “Hunting as per the act does not only mean the killing of lions but also applies to harassing of the schedule I animal that, directly or indirectly, can eventually lead to it's harm."
In the last two years, at least 38 cases of illegal activities, like conducting lion shows by baiting and harassing the felines by chasing them by vehicles in and around the Gir wildlife sanctuary have come to light & series of videos had gone viral. The government has decided to employ police department like “informers” to curb such incidents.
Vasava said that the Forest Department, in collaboration with the Tourism Department, has also decided to increase the number of lion safaris in the protected areas for tourists. “People tend to see lions through illegal activities like lion shows when they cannot see them in (legal) safaris. So, we have decided to increase the number of such safari permits from 750 to 1,110 in a week,” he said.
For that, the Forest Minister also announced to develop a new tourism zone at Chikhalkuba village of Amreli district in order “to decrease the load of tourists on Sasan Tourism Zone”. “The lion safaris will start in the sanctuary area of Girnar mountain. Simultaneously, new safari routes will be added to Sasan zone,” he added.
*This image is copyright of its original author
Gujarat government led by Vijay Rupani held a review meeting on the issue. The meeting concentrated on chalking out a strategy to decrease human intervention in jungles and also to form a plan for the conservation of Asiatic lions.
The meeting was held on Tuesday, Vasava declared 13-point conservation plan to put a stop on the man-animal conflict in Asiatic lion habitat. The population of these lions is 650 as per census 2017, spread over 22,000 sq.km across 1500 villages.
The government has also announced to form a single authority to manage the whole lionscape which is currently managed by 4 seperate forest circles.
apart from the Gir Sanctuary, lions have settled or mobility in revenue areas and small forest areas. And therefore, a new division will be set up in Amreli under the control of Chief Conservator of Forest (Junagadh Wildlife Circle), covering nine talukas of Amreli and Bhavnagar districts.
The government is also set to declare an area of 109 square kilometre from Amreli and Bhavnagar districts as Conservation Reserve, under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, that have been witnessing movement of lions outside the sanctuary area.
(Underthe Act, four kinds of protective areas can be notified in India — sanctuary, national park, conservation and community reserve.)
The government’s decisions follow recent High Court’s order, which directed it to file a fresh affidavit, giving details of the specific steps taken in the last couple of years to stop death of lions in and around the Gir forest caused by open wells, electrocution, vehicular traffic among others.
Also, the state government is keen on moving lions to newer sanctuaries within the state. Dushyant Vasavda, Chief Conservator of Forests, said: We are considering the translocation of lions but within the state. We have already identified new alternative sanctuaries; one in Porbandar called the Barda Sanctuary and one near Rajkot named Rampura Sanctuary. As of now, we are building a prey base for lions in these sanctuaries. Once we have enough game to go around for the lions, the wild cats will be moved out.
Well it sounds like the govt there is taking the necessary steps to protect the lions ... it all sounds positive to me.
Asiatic Lion - Data, Pictures & Videos
