Lion Habitat: Where Do Lions Live

The lion is the second largest living cat after the tiger. Their lifespan in the wild is about 10-14 years while in captivity they live for about 20 years. They are the most social of the cat family and live in prides comprising 1-2 males, up to 7 females and 14-15 cubs of various ages. The males by means of scent marking and patrolling, defend their prides against other prides as well as nomadic lions. These wonderful creatures reigned in the regions of southern Eurasia, Greece, India and Africa. They prefer tropical deserts, grassy landscapes and forests to live in. However, the saddest and the most concerning part is that the habitat of these glorious wild animals has been and is shrinking continuously.

Human population growth and commercial activity caused the lion's habitat to reduce greatly. The ancient country of Greece viewed its last lion in 100 AD, after which it became extinct to the region. One of the reasons could be sport hunting. Palestine was wiped out of lions by the 16th century. Most of India lost its lion population in the 19th century. Further, Greece's neighbor, Turkey, was phased out of lions by the late 1800s and North Africa by the early 1900s. The Middle East was phased out of lions in the early 20th century. The last lion seen in Iran was in 1941.

Lion Habitat: Where Do Lions Live

Asiatic Lion Habitat
The Asiatic lion has been also named as the Indian lion or the Persian lion, for once upon a time this lion roamed freely from Asia Minor and Arabia through Persia to India. There was a time when Asiatic lions were widely distributed over the vast terrains of Southwest Asia such as Yemen, Caucasus, Macedonia (Greece), India, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The range of Asiatic lions in the Indian sub-continent extended across northern India from the east, all the way to Bihar in the west, and river Narmada marking the their habitat limit in the south. This lion species disappeared from Bihar in 1840, from Delhi in 1834, Rajasthan and Central India in 1870, from the Eastern Vindhyas & Bundelkhand in 1880 and from the Western Aravallis in 1880.

The drastic depletion of lion habitat due to onslaught of human pressure has put the lion on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered. The Asiatic lion was wiped off from its wide Indian habitat except from one particular area, the Gir Forest National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary in the state of Gujarat in India. This park was set up on 18th September, 1965 with the intention of protecting the wild cat from becoming extinct. And the efforts to protect this lion has proved to be quite successful. The population of this endangered cat gradually increased from 177 in 1968 to 359 in 2005. It is at this national park that the last surviving population of Asiatic lions exist. These Gir or Asiatic lions are not as big as the African lions, and feature shorter manes. They are also characterized by a long fold of skin on their undersides. This is something the African lions do not have.

African Lion Habitat
The African lion, as the name suggests is an inhabitant of the continent of Africa. These lions were seen to inhabit any suitable area in Africa, south of the Sahara desert. Their habitat comprised Savannah grasslands and semi-arid plains throughout the sub Saharan regions in Africa (except the Congo region). The Savannah regions featured lovely Acacia trees under whose shade the lions could peacefully rest. However, the rise in human interaction and interference has led their numbers to decline rapidly. The farmers find the these lions a threat to their livestock and business, and thus try and get rid of them. This increased killing and poaching have pushed these majestic cats towards extinction.

Over the past century the numbers of African lions have fallen from a figure of over 100,000 to approximately 23,000. Today, the range of African lions in Africa is more or less confined to the conservation areas in southern and eastern Africa. According to estimates by National Geographic, there exist less than 23,000 lions in the African continent. Today farmers and livestock owners have greater access to guns, poison and other destructive weapons with which they easily hunt down these endangered lions. This has left the African lion in serious peril.

The African lions and another 300 plus lions in the Gir National Park are the only lions that exist today. This is one of the best examples depicting the amount of destruction that human interaction, population growth, and commercial activity can bring out. If we do not want to lose these significant animals, we need to educate people about such a crisis. We as humans cannot live selfishly. Live and let live!