The Asiatic Lions
Panthera leo goojratensis
21.1762, 70.5863
Field Notes
Description:
The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo goojratensis) or Indian Lion is a subspecies of the lion. The only place in the wild where the lion is found, is in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India. In 2010, the Gujarat government reported that 411 Asiatic lions were sighted in the Gir forest; a rise of 52 over the last census of 2005.
The Asiatic lion is one of the five major big cats found in India, the others being the Bengal tiger, the Indian leopard, the snow leopard and clouded leopard. The Asiatic lions once ranged from the Mediterranean to the north-eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent, but excessive hunting, water pollution and decline in natural prey reduced their habitat.Historically, Asiatic lions were classified into three kinds – Bengal, Arabian and Persian lions.Asiatic lions are smaller and lighter than their African counterparts, but are equally aggressive. It is sometimes misidentified as the national animal of India, which is in fact the Tiger, Panthera tigris.
Habitat:
The historic range of the Asiatic lion of the persica subspecies is believed to have extended from northern India to the East through modern Iran, south throughout the periphery of the Arabian peninsula, and west towards modern Greece and Italy.Indeed, multiple fossil localities of the related subspecies Panthera leo spelaea have been discovered throughout North Africa, the Middle East, Siberia, Alaska, and much of Europe going as far north as Scotland.
Modern habitat of the Asiatic lion is largely limited to the Gir Forest Sanctuary in North western India.
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