Endangered Ark

Asiatic Lion

Panthera leo persica

King of Hearts

Art by Nicole ‘Thornwolf’ Dornsife

http://thornwolf.artspots.com

nicole.dornsife@gmail.com

California

Asiatic lions have thicker, shaggier manes and longer tail tassles than their African cousins. They also have a distinctive fold of skin on their underbellies that other lions lack. They are considered the smallest subspecies of lion and are very social animals, living together in prides smaller than those of African lions.

The Asiatic lion’s habitat previously spanned throughout most of southeast Asia and through to Greece and Europe, but today they only exist in small numbers in India. The current wild population of approximately 250-350 lions, who are all located within the Gir National Forest in India, are thought to have been descended from 13 individuals found in the 1930’s. This leaves the existing population potentially prone to disease and other inbreeding related health problems.

Because their current range is so restricted, Asiatic lions and villagers often cross paths. Lions are often poisoned for attacking livestock. They can also fall victim to open wells dug by farmers, which is why suggestions have been put in place to build walls around these wells to prevent lions from drowning.

Efforts are currently being made to take some of the lions from the overpopulated Gir Forest sanctuary to form another population of wild Asiatic lions in another former habitat in the Palpur-Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary. This area seems the most promising area for lion relocation as this is their last known habitat before they were hunted to near extinction.