MARKETING - The PRIDE Magazine by Liontrust - Flipbook - Page 21
The Asiatic Lion
When most people think of lions, they probably have an image of them wandering across the
savannah of Africa. Apart from the geographical separation from their cousins in the forest
environment in India, there are a few other differences between the African and Asiatic
lions although, as you would expect, there are far more similarities.
The typical African pride comprises five or more lions. An Asiatic pride tends to be
made up of two or three adult lionesses plus cubs – with males only associating
with females while mating or sharing a large kill.
Asiatic males are fairly solitary but will sometimes team up with each other to
defend territory.
Asiatic females usually give birth to around two to four cubs which
hunt with the pride when they are a year old.
The Asiatic lion has a long fold of skin along the stomach that is
absent from African lions and has a sparser mane but
bigger tufts of hair on its tail and elbows.
The Asiatic lion tends to be around 10% to 20%
smaller than the African lion.
Hunting by dawn and dusk and sleeping
by day, these powerful carnivores are
perfectly evolved to stalk, chase and
overpower prey, often working as a team
to take down prey that can be much larger
than themselves. Other distinguishing
characteristics of lions include:
Their large eyes see fewer colours than
ours, but have much better night vision
Their tongues are covered with backwards
curving spines to help scrape meat
from the bone
Their powerful legs allow them to accelerate
quickly from a standing start (up to 65mph) and can
deliver blows strong enough to break an animal’s back
Their claws are retractable, so they can be safely
sheathed until they’re needed to hook and grip prey
They sleep for up to 20 hours a day
They are all uniquely identifiable by the pattern
of freckles among their whiskers
Issue 1 Winter 2017 - TH E P R I DE - 21