Northern Lion

The English word lion is derived via Anglo-Norman liun from Latin leōnem (nominative: leō), which in turn was a borrowing from Ancient Greek λέων léōn. The Hebrew word לָבִיא lavi may also be related.

• Singular: Northern Lion, Asiatic Lion, West African Lion, Central African Lion, Indian Lion, Barbary Lion, North African Lion, Atlas Lion, Persian Lion, Greek Lion, Egyptian Lion

• Plural: Northern Lions, etc.

The Northern Lion is largely different from Southern African lions, though it varies throughout its territory. The coat is pale to dark tawny and, like the extinct Barbary lions, is frequently heavier in colder areas. Asiatic lions have sparser manes that reveal their faces and ears, while North African (Barbary) lions typically have full, dark manes.

• The barbary lion's strong, mountain-adapted body was covered in a thick, dark mane that covered its neck and chest.

• The West African lion was adapted to savannas and had a shorter mane and a leaner body.

• Asiatic lions had smaller bodies, smaller manes, noticeable belly folds, and tufted elbows.

The subspecies has a distinctive tail tuft, which is black-tipped and ends in a tuft of fur, and a distinctive belly fold, which is a loose skin fold along the abdomen and is particularly noticeable in Asiatic lions.

It was also cunning. The Asiatic lions would lure warriors or livestock to his den or pride by kidnapping others that he could use as bait for the pride.

Because it is a powerful predator that can capture ungulates and other species, such as deer, aurochs, wild boar, ibex, sheep, antelopes, ostriches, rabbits, mongooses, hyenas, and probably snakes, the northern lion uses strength and hunting skills. It is known to hunt in couples or small groups, frequently with family members. Unlike most African lions, the lion's adaptability allowed it to survive in arid, mountainous, and tropical areas. It could withstand temperature swings from hot desert days to chilly nights.

They can be heard for more than 8 kilometers (5 miles) with their loud, far-reaching roar. The northern lion's endurance allowed it to travel great distances in search of food and water, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula, Asia, the Atlas Mountains, and even the Balkans.

As the apex predator, the northern lion has a trophic role in regulating herbivore populations, including deer, addax, aurochs, sanga, gazelles, hippos, and wild sheep. In the past, the lions may have even contributed to the balance of ecosystems in southern Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Gazelles and antelopes, goats, chamois, deer, boar, and occasionally livestock when there was a shortage of natural prey are their primary prey. The only animals that pose a hazard to both adults and cubs of northern lions are humans, crocodiles, bears, hyenas, baboons, and pythons.

Asiatic lion prides tend to be smaller, and the biggest one ever recorded had five adult females with most surviving with just two females. Male Asiatic lions can be solitary or form loose prides of up to three males. Males rest, hunt, and feed together, and exhibit marking behavior at the same locations. Females form a stronger pride with up to 12 other females and their cubs. They share large carcasses among themselves, but rarely with males. Female and male lions usually only associate for a few days when mating, and they rarely travel and feed together.

In Pendjari National Park, groups of lions range from 1–8 individuals. Outside the National Park, groups are smaller and with a single male. In Waza National Park, three female and two male lions were radio-collared in 1999 and tracked until 2001. The females moved in home ranges of between 352 and 724 km2 (136 and 280 sq mi) and stayed inside the park during most of the survey period. The males used home ranges of between 428 and 1,054 km2 (165 and 407 sq mi), both inside and outside the park, where they repeatedly killed livestock. One was killed and the other shot at by local people. After the pellets were removed, he recovered and shifted his home range to inside the park, and was not observed killing livestock any more.

Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans were familiar with the northern lion (minus in Asia), which they depicted in mythology, gladiatorial contests, and royal symbols. Barbary lions from North Africa were caught for Roman arenas and menageries. Despite the lion's extinction in Europe and the Romans' impact on the region's culture, lions represented authority in Balkan, Byzantine, and European heraldry during the Middle Ages.

Reintroduction proposals in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains using genetically similar lions have been discussed but not implemented yet. The Asiatic lion in India is under active conservation through Gir National Park and Kuno National Park relocation programs.

Reproduction

Breeding:

• Year-round, with peaks in the wet season (Indian only) or summer-autumn (Barbary only).

Gestation:

• ~110 days.

Litter size:

• 2–4 cubs (sometimes up to 6).

Maternal care:

• Females raised cubs in dense cover or caves; males protected territory.

Maturity:

• Females mature at 3–4 years, males at 5–6 years.

Lifespan:

• Wild: up to 15 years; Captivity: 20 years.

Because the terrain in Europe, Northern Africa, and Asia is rougher and there is less prey, the social structure of northern lions is probably smaller than that of African savanna lions. Groups of two to six people are prevalent among lions (either male coalitions or female-based groupings). Both males and females use smell and roaring to mark their vast territories. For denning, it favored forested slopes and mountain caves in Africa. Northern lions hunt cooperatively in couples or trios, using ambush strategies in rocky regions as opposed to open pursuits. Due to hunting, habitat destruction, and conflicts with livestock farmers, lions throughout North Africa and all of Asia—aside from India—were mostly gone by the 1800s. Because they persecute cattle and even human children, they are perceived as bogus heroes and monsters in their own localities.

Asiatic lions, unlike their African counterparts, don't view humans as immediate threats and it is docile. Dominant males consume about 47% more from kills than their coalition partners. Aggression between partners increases when coalitions are large, but kills are small. Although northern lions are naturally suspicious of humans, assaults have been documented when there is a shortage of prey. For example, man-eating lions, which primarily prey on humans, consider humans to be prey rather than natural or invasive prey. For symbolic purposes, the northern lion's ferocity is frequently exaggerated in Greek, Roman, Jewish, Christian, and other tales.

Outside sub-Saharan Africa, the Lion formerly ranged from Northern Africa through Southwest Asia (where it disappeared from most countries within the last 150 years), west into Europe, where it apparently became extinct almost 2,000 years ago, and east into India. Today, the only remainder of this once widespread northern population is a single isolated subpopulation in the 1,400 km² Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary. Lions are extinct in North Africa, having perhaps survived in the High Atlas Mountains up to the 1940s.

Asian lions used to range from Turkey, across Asia, to eastern India, but the rise of firearms across the world meant that they were hunted to near-extinction for sport. In Saurashtra's Gir Forest, an area of 1,412.1 km2 (545.2 sq mi) was declared as a sanctuary for Asiatic lion conservation in 1965. This sanctuary and the surrounding areas are the only habitats supporting the Asiatic lion.

The Asiatic lion used to occur in Arabia, Palestine, Mesopotamia and Baluchistan. In South Caucasia (present day Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan), it was known since the Holocene, and became extinct in the 10th century. Until the middle of the 19th century, it survived in regions adjoining Mesopotamia and Syria, and was still sighted in the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in the early 1870s. By the late 19th century, the Asiatic lion had become extinct in Saudi Arabia and Turkiye. The last known lion in Iraq was killed on the lower Tigris in 1918.

Historical records in Iran indicate that it ranged from the Khuzestan Plain to Fars Province at elevations below 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in steppe vegetation and pistachio-almond woodlands. It was widespread in the country, but in the 1870s, it was sighted only on the western slopes of the Zagros Mountains, and in the forest regions south of Shiraz It served as the national emblem and appeared on the country's flag. Some of the country's last lions were sighted in 1941 between Shiraz and Jahrom in Fars Province, and in 1942, a lion was spotted about 65 km (40 mi) northwest of Dezful. In 1944, the corpse of a lioness was found on the banks of the Karun River in Iran's Khuzestan Province.

All subspecies of the lion (except for Marozi and Nemean Lion) will share their locations and habitats.

• Movement Pattern: Random

• Individual Type: Pride

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 674

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Mushroom Fields; Deserts and Xeric Shrublands; Badlands; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Graveyard Vale.

• Earth: 

  • Extant (Resident): Benin; Burkina Faso; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; India (Saurashtra); Niger; Nigeria; Senegal; Sudan; South Sudan

  • Extinct: Albania; Algeria; Bulgaria; Egypt; Gambia; Greece; Jordan; Iraq; Iran; Israel; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Mauritania; Morocco; Pakistan; Palestine; Saudi Arabia; Sierra Leone; Syria; Togo; Tunisia; Turkiye; Western Sahara

Alpha Lion cannot be tamed when it is an adult stage. Only in cub one was notable exceptions. Can be tamed the abandoned kitten using any raw fish or milk.

It was completely unethical and illegal to keep lions as pets anywhere in the world (except from sanctuaries with licenses). Their suitability is inappropriate in every situation since they are very risky, need a large amount of room, have a unique diet, and are socially complex.

This species is poorly cared for in captivity and frequently suffers from stress, hunger, and hostility; enrichment and moral treatment are the main goals of sanctuary care.

Historically, it inhabited much of Western Asia and the Middle East to northern India. The lion is one of five pantherine cats native to India, along with the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris), Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa).

Earth

• Xhosa: ingonyama

• Yoruba: kiniun

• Zulu: ibhubesi

• Borean: Ziŋghô Upnèr

  • Modern Tagalog: leon

    • Old Tagalog: halimaw ("monster"; archaic)

  • Indonesian: singa, leon

  • Melayu: singa

  • Maori: raiona

  • Thai: สิงโต (S̄ingto)

  • Navajo: Náshdóítsoh bitsiijįʼ daditłʼooígíí, leon

  • Mandarin: 狮子 (shīzi)

  • Vietnamese: sư tử

  • Khmer: តោ (tao)

  • Lao: ຊ້າງ (sang)

  • Mizo: sakeibaknei

  • Japanese: 獅子 (shishi); ライオン (raion)

  • Georgian: ლომი (lomi)

  • Finnish: Leijona

  • Northern Sami: Ledjon

  • Hungarian: Oroszlán

  • Tamil: சிங்கம் (Ciṅkam)

  • Telugu: సింహం (Sinhaṁ)

  • Malayalam: സിംഹം (sinhaṁ)

  • Hebrew: אריה (aryeh)

  • Arabic: أسد ('asada)

  • Western Elvish: irjiu

  • Eastern Elvish: erjau

  • Armenian: առյուծ (arryuts)

  • Irish: leon

  • Welsh: llew

  • French: lion; lionne

  • Spanish: león

  • Hindi: सिंह (singh)

  • Urdu: شیر (sher)

  • Persian: شير‎ (shir)

  • Kurdish: Şêr

  • Russian: лев (lev)

  • Ukrainian: лев (lev)

• Nahuatl: Cuāmiztli / Kwāmistli

• Aymara: Liwuna

• Coming soon

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_leo_melanochaita

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_leo_leo

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/African-Lion-876563132

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Asiatic-Lion-876564950

• https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-are-the-differences-between-asiatic-lions-and-african-lions.html

• https://india.mongabay.com/2020/05/coexisting-with-an-increasing-number-of-asiatic-lions/

• https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/rajkot/labourer-madhya-pradesh-attack-lions-gujarat-amreli-8048624/

• https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/09/21/boy-15-mauled-to-death-by-lioness-near-lion-reserve-in-india/

• https://www.zsl.org/asiatic-lion-facts