Asiatic lion


The Asiatic lion is a lion population in the Indian state of Gujarat that belongs to the subspecies Panthera leo leo. The first scientific description of the Asiatic lion published in 1826 was based on a specimen from Persia.
Until the 19th century, it ranged from Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia and southern Pakistan to Central India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and surrounding areas.
The Indian population has steadily increased since 2010. In 2015, the 14th Asiatic Lion Census was conducted over an area of about ; the lion population was estimated at 523 individuals, and in 2017 at 650 individuals. In 2020 the population was 674 and by 2025 it had increased to 891.

Taxonomy

Felis leo persicus was the scientific name proposed by Johann N. Meyer in 1826 who described an Asiatic lion skin from Persia.
In the 19th century, several zoologists described lion zoological specimen from other parts of Asia that used to be considered synonyms of P. l. persica:
In 2017, the Asiatic lion was subsumed to P. l. leo due to close morphological and molecular genetic similarities with Barbary lion specimens.
However, several scientists continue using P. l. persica for the Asiatic lion. A standardised haplogroup phylogeny supports that the Asiatic lion is not a distinct subspecies, and that it represents a haplogroup of the northern P. l. leo.

Evolution

Lions first left Africa at least 700,000 years ago, giving rise to the Eurasian Panthera fossilis which later evolved into Panthera spelaea, which became extinct around 14,000 years ago. Genetic analysis of P. spelaea indicates that it represented a distinct species from the modern lion that diverged from them around 500,000 years ago and unrelated to modern Asian lions. Pleistocene fossils assigned as belonging or probably belonging to the modern lion have been reported from several sites in the Middle East, such as Shishan Marsh in the Azraq Basin, Jordan, dating to around 250,000 years ago, and Wezmeh Cave in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, dating to around 70–10,000 years ago, with other reports from Pleistocene deposits in Nadaouiyeh Ain Askar and Douara Cave, Syria. In 1976, fossil lion remains were reported from Pleistocene deposits in West Bengal. A fossil carnassial excavated from Batadomba Cave indicates that lions inhabited Sri Lanka during the Late Pleistocene. This population may have become extinct around 39,000 years ago, before the arrival of humans in Sri Lanka.

Phylogeography

Results of a phylogeographic analysis based on mtDNA sequences of lions from across the global range, including now extinct populations like Barbary lions, indicates that sub-Saharan African lions are phylogenetically basal to all modern lions. These findings support an African origin of modern lion evolution with a probable centre in East and Southern Africa. It is likely that lions migrated from there to West Africa, eastern North Africa and via the periphery of the Arabian Peninsula into Turkey, southern Europe and northern India during the last 20,000 years. The Sahara, Congolian rainforests and the Great Rift Valley are natural barriers to lion dispersal.
Genetic markers of 357 samples from captive and wild lions from Africa and India were examined. Results indicate four lineages of lion populations: one in Central and North Africa to Asia, one in Kenya, one in Southern Africa, and one in Southern and East Africa; the first wave of lion expansion probably occurred about 118,000 years ago from East Africa into West Asia, and the second wave in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene periods from Southern Africa towards East Africa.
The Asiatic lion is genetically closer to North and West African lions than to the group comprising East and Southern African lions. The two groups probably diverged about 186,000–128,000 years ago. It is thought that the Asiatic lion remained connected to North and Central African lions until gene flow was interrupted due to extinction of lions in Western Eurasia and the Middle East during the Holocene.
Asiatic lions are less genetically diverse than African lions, which may be the result of a founder effect in the recent history of the remnant population in the Gir Forest.

Characteristics

The Asiatic lion's fur ranges in colour from ruddy-tawny, heavily speckled with black, to sandy or buffish grey, sometimes with a silvery sheen in certain lighting. Males have only moderate mane growth at the top of the head, so that their ears are always visible. The mane is scanty on the cheeks and throat, where it is only long. About half of Asiatic lions' skulls from the Gir forest have divided infraorbital foramina, whereas African lions have only one foramen on either side. The sagittal crest is more strongly developed, and the post-orbital area is shorter than in African lions. Skull length in adult males ranges from, and in females, from. It differs from the African lion by a larger tail tuft and less inflated auditory bullae.
The most striking morphological character of the Asiatic lion is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.
Males have a shoulder height of up to, and females of. Two lions in Gir Forest measured from head to body with a long tail of and total lengths of. The Gir lion is similar in size to the Central African lion, and smaller than large African lions.
An adult male Asiatic lion weighs on average with the limit being ; a wild female weighs.

Manes

Colour and development of manes in male lions varies between regions, among populations and with age of lions. In general, the Asiatic lion differs from the African lion by a less developed mane. The manes of most lions in ancient Greece and Asia Minor were also less developed and did not extend to below the belly, sides or ulnas. Lions with such smaller manes were also known in the Syrian region, Arabian Peninsula and Egypt.

Exceptionally sized lions

The confirmed record total length of a male Asiatic lion is, including the tail. Emperor Jahangir allegedly speared a lion in the 1620s that measured and weighed.
In 1841, English traveller Austen Henry Layard accompanied hunters in Khuzestan, Iran, and sighted a lion which "had done much damage in the plain of Ram Hormuz," before one of his companions killed it. He described it as being "unusually large and of very dark brown colour", with some parts of its body being almost black.
In 1935, a British admiral claimed to have sighted a maneless lion near Quetta in Pakistan. He wrote "It was a large lion, very stocky, light tawny in colour, and I may say that no one of us three had the slightest doubt of what we had seen until, on our arrival at Quetta, many officers expressed doubts as to its identity, or to the possibility of there being a lion in the district."

Distribution and habitat

In Saurashtra's Gir forest, an area of 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. After 1965, a national park was established covering an area of where human activity is not allowed. In the surrounding sanctuary only Maldharis have the right to take their livestock for grazing.
Lions inhabit remnant forest habitats in the two hill systems of Gir and Girnar that comprise Gujarat's largest tracts of tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, thorny forest and savanna, and provide valuable habitat for a diverse flora and fauna. Five protected areas currently exist to protect the Asiatic lion: Gir Sanctuary, Gir National Park, Pania Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, and Girnar Sanctuary. The first three protected areas form the Gir Conservation Area, a large forest block that represents the core habitat of the lion population. The other two sanctuaries Mitiyala and Girnar protect satellite areas within dispersal distance of the Gir Conservation Area. An additional sanctuary is being established in the nearby Barda Wildlife Sanctuary to serve as an alternative home for lions. The drier eastern part is vegetated with acacia thorn savanna and receives about annual rainfall; rainfall in the west is higher at about per year.
The lion population recovered from the brink of extinction to 411 individuals by 2010. In that year, approximately 105 lions lived outside the Gir forest, representing a quarter of the entire lion population. Dispersing sub-adults established new territories outside their natal prides, and as a result the satellite lion population has been increasing since 1995.
By 2015, the total population had grown to an estimated 523 individuals, inhabiting an area of in the Saurashtra region., comprising 109 adult males, 201 adult females and 213 cubs. The Asiatic Lion Census conducted in 2017 revealed about 650 individuals.
By 2020, at least six satellite populations had spread to eight districts in Gujarat and live in human-dominated areas outside the protected area network. 104 lived near the coastline. Lions living along the coast, as well as those between the coastline and the Gir forest, have larger individual ranges. By the time of the census, approximately 300–325 lions lived within the Gir preserve itself. The remainder of the population was instead spread across the adjoining Amreli, Bhavnagar, and Gir Somnath Districts, with populations recorded in the Girnar, Mitiyala, and Pania Wildlife Sanctuaries in addition to areas outside protected zones. In 2024 and 2025, lions began swimming to Diu Island, separated from the mainland of Gujarat by a narrow channel. These individuals were relocated to Gujarat on request of the Diu administration over concerns of disruption to human life, although conservationists protested the removal as unnecessary.