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.
06-06-2015, 11:48 PM( This post was last modified: 06-06-2015, 11:51 PM by GuateGojira )
In fact, the record of 272 kg was NOT confirmed. Richard Kock send different answers to different people. In some emails he said that he don't know about the weight, in others that it was weighed, so at the end, there is no real confirmation from his part.
Sources like that posted by Pckts only copy-paste the record from Nowell & Jackson (1996), which at the same time, quotes Kock, which never confirmed the record.
More interesting, the Kenya Wildlife Service denied this record and states that the heaviest lion recorded in the area is male of 230 kg, from the Aberdares NP, which is also near the mount Kenya. Also, the book of the Dr Bruce Patterson about the Tsavo lions also quote the male of 230 kg and not the one of 272 kg. Besides, there is no information on the scales used there, se don't know how accurate were.
Finally, the heaviest lion confirmed by scientific sources is a huge male of 250 kg "empty" reported in Timbavati PNR, in South Africa. For Kenya, the male of 230 kg in Aberdares NP is the heaviest, sadly modern books only quote the figure of 272 kg because is already published in an "official" book without investigating more sources. That is why this forum is so important, to see beyond the published information and to dig deeper in the history.