World Lion Day
The World Lion Day aims to raise the awareness about the dilemma faced by lions. Precisely known as the ‘Panthero Leo,’ the lions are considered as one of the top famous animal species. They are known as the ‘Jungle Kings’ due to their fearsome and arresting personalities made by their heavy, shiny manes and great bodies. The powerful roar of the lion is the second to none. This may be heard even from five miles away. Due to the pop more icons such as Simba of “The Lion King”, the lions are loved also by children. But, while the lions existed in the big populations 100 years past, today, the numbers are just beneath 50,000 globally as the outcome of hunting and poaching. Therefore, the World Lion Day takes the attention of this endangered species through amping up protective measure and raising funds.
WORLD LION DAY HISTORY
The primary World Lion Day appeared in 2013. This was lead by Beverly and Dereck Joubert, the couple who are so passionate about the preservation of wild cats. After recognizing that the lion populations had been drastically decreasing globally, the Jouberts approached the “National Geographic” for their brand’s help. Creating the collaboration with them, this couple arrived with the (B.C.I.) or Big Cat Initiative in year 2009. This B.C.I.’s major goal will be to preserve and protect the remaining species of lion from around the globe. While aspects like human intervention, deforestation, and climate change may have impacted the lion populations, case studies have illustrated that the extremely low figures may also have to affect with the natural environmental disasters and ice ages that have lead them to be secluded in some of the few countries from across the globe, like South Africa and India. Now, the B.C.I. had created substantial leaps, from taking 150+ grant rewards to reducing about 3,000 threats until 3,000 rowdy cats to eliminating 13,000 life-frightening snares.
Lion came from the family of cats of ‘Felidae’, and it is being considered as an apex predator. Lions are the next largest cat weighing about 300-600 pounds, with its first being cousins, the tiger. The average body of lion is muscular with the ears and short round head, with the tufty tail. The gender can be identified by their through luscious and heavy mane, that are absent on the lionesses. Lions happen to be an only cat who roams around with big groups called as prides. The scientists believe that the lions do this because it is simpler to catch the prey in the wilderness. The natural habitats of lions are grasslands and savannas. You will likely find the pride of lions close by the water bodies since they strategically waiting for their prey to come for a drink, then they pounce on them.
TIMELINE FOR WORLD LION DAY
1758 – ‘Felis Leo’ was invented.
Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist and zoologist, invented ‘Felis Leo’ as a scientific name for the lions.
1996 – The Vulnerable Species
Lions are placed on a Red List of IUCN or the International Union for the Conservation of Nature because of their African population diminishing of 45% since year 1990.
2009 – The Big Cat Initiative has been formed
Beverly and Dereck Joubert, in association with the “National Geographic”, begin this Big Cat Initiative so that they can save lions.
2013 – First Ever World Lion Day
B.C.I. announced the first ever World Lion Day just in order to take in the world in the lion preservation efforts.
FACTS ABOUT THE LIONS THAT WILL SURELY BLOW YOUR MIND
1. Long and heavy sleepers. Lions can sleep for about 20 hours per day.
2. Females are mighty hunters. Lionesses are great hunters than the male counterparts, and it’s because they hunt 80%-90% of their time.
3. Cubs are being raised together. The lion cubs are normally brought up together through all the females within a pride.
4. Manes changes over time. The lion’s mane will changes color, going from lighter to darker, as it became old.
5. Younglings have spots over their skin. The young lion cubs had been born with spots over their coats, but it fades away when they grow older.
KINDS OF LIONS
1. Barbary lion also called as Egyptian lion, North African lion, and Atlas lion.
It lived in deserts and mountains of Maghreb of the Northern Africa from Morocco up to Egypt. It had been eradicated next to the spread of bounties and firearms for shooting lions. The comprehensive review of sighting records and hunting revealed that bit crowds of lions will survived when in Algeria during the early 1960 and in Morocco up until the mid of 1960. Now, it is locally died out in this region. The fossils of Barbary lion dating from between 100,000 to 110,000 years were discovered in Bizmoune Cave near Essaouira.
2. Asiatic lion with a scientific description of Felis leo persicus.
Since the spin of 20th century, its series has been limited to the Gir National Park with its surrounding areas at Indian state of the Gujarat. Its primary scientific description was published in year 1826 by an Austrian zoologist named as Johann Meyer, who called it as Felis leo persicus. During the 19th century, lions occurred in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mesopotamia, eastern Turkey, and from the east of Indus River in the state of Pakistan to Bengal region and Narmada River in the Central India.
3. Cape lion – considered the distinct subspecies of Panthera leo melanochaita.
This was the populace of lions in Cape Provinces and South Africa’s Natal that was extirpated during the mid of 19th century. This kind of specimen came from Cape of Good Hope that was described in year 1842. Habitually, the Cape lion had been considered a different subspecies of lion, the Panthera leo melanochaita. But, phylogeographic analysis had illustrated that the lion populations in the EWast and Southern Africa are closely connected. In year 2017, the subspecies of Panthera leo melanochaita had been recircumscribed to contain every populations of lions in East and in Southern Africa.
4. Transvaal lions also called as Kalahari lion.
These lions live throughout the southern Africa, coming from Namibia in west to Mozambique at the east then ranging into the South Africa. These kinds of lions mainly dwell in the savannah and in semi-arid grasslands. As with all the felines, Transvaal lions had been carnivores that feed over herbivorous mammals like wildebeests, warthogs and zebra and they also try to attempt to hunt bigger prey, like those South African giraffe, Cape Buffalo and the white rhino. Transvaal lions are around the average mass for lions, with the males that averages from 33-450 pounds. The females are lighter than the males and on the average those Transvall lions are smaller than the other lion female species.
5. European Lion with a scientific name of Felis spelaea.
This is from the fossils of Holocene and Pleistocene lions excavated from Europe from the 19th century. These first lion fossils were excavated from southern Germany, and had been illustrated by Mr. Georg August Goldfuss by using the scientific label of Felis spelaea. It maybe dates to Würm glaciation, and had been 191,000 until 57,000 years old. The older lion skull fragment was excavated in Germany which was described by Mr. Wilhelm von Reichenau beneath the Felis fossilis in year 1906. These are expected in between 533,000 and 621,000 years old. The current lion (Panthera leo) occupied parts of the Southern Europe ever since the early time of Holocene.
6. Congo lion is a “Panthera leo azandica”, being considered by many present scientists as a nomem dubium and also not a distinctive subspecies, and also called as Congolese Lion, Uganda lion, and Northeast Congo lion.
This lion population is a native to Africa. It has the golden-yellow shade fur-covered body. They’re really the king of a habitat. Unlike some other lions, these Congo lions preferred dwelling in the open scrublands and grasslands of Congo more than the forests. The taxonomic history of these lions dated back to early 20th century.
7. Southwestern African Lion or the Katanga Lion.
These Panthera leo melanochaita are the lion subspecies in East and Southern Africa. In this side of Africa, the lion populations are provincially extinct in Eritrea, Lesotho, and Djibouti and are threatened to loss their habitat and their prey base, killed by the local people in revenge for loss of stocks, and in some other countries by trophy hunting also. Since the 21st century, the lion populations in severely handled protected areas in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa have increased, but then declined in the East African range states. In 2017, Cat Classification Task Force from IUCN Cat Specialists Group subsumed the lion populations base on the major clades in two subspecies, known as P. l. melanochaita and P. l. leo. Within P. l. melanochaita, the three subclades are visibly distinguishable; one coming from northeastern Africa and the other from southwestern Africa while the third is from the southeastern Africa.
8. Panthera leo melanochaita was the lion subspecies in East and Southern Africa.
In this area of Africa, the lion populations are locally extinct in Eritrea, Lesotho, and Djibouti and are threatened to loss their habitat and prey support, killing by the local people in retribution for loss of stocks, and in some countries by trophy hunting. Since the 21st century, the lion populations in serious managed protected areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia have increased, but then weakened in East African ranged countries. In year 2005, the Lion Conservation Strategy had been developed for Southern and East Africa.
9. Panthera leo leo is the lion subspecies.
It is present in northern Central Africa, India and West Africa. In Central and West Africa, it is limited to fragment and the isolated populations with the declining range.
10. Panthera fossilis is also called as Panthera spelaea fossilis or Panthera leo fossilis.
It is a vanished species of wild cats belonging to genus Panthera, identified from the remains located in the Eurasia spanning at the Middle Pleistocene plus possibly to the Early Pleistocene. Panthera fossilis. The temporal range: Skull is from Azé, France.
11. Panthera leo sinhaleyus has been the extinct prehistoric subspecies for lions.
It is excavated from Sri Lanka. It’s believed to have been extinct prior with the arrival of human beings 37,000 years BCE.
12. The Kalahari lion is Panthera leo melanochaita and has a taxonomic name of Panthera leo vernayi.
It has been taken into consideration as a subspecies of the lion native from the Kalahari region at the southwestern Africa, with a taxonomic name of Panthera leo vernayi. But, the lion map subspecies, provided in 2005 by Haas et al suggested that lions at the Kalahari region consisted of two subspecies: Panthera leo krugeri and Panthera leo bleyenberghi. Otherwise, the Global Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2016 proposed that the lions from southern Africa are teamed under the Panthera leo melanochaita.
13. Panthera leo vereshchagini, a Beringian lion in 2001 is also called as East Siberian lion.
It is a dead species of feline which dwelled during Pleistocene at Yakutia (Russia), Yukon Territory (Canada) and in Alaska (USA). The skull and jaw analysis of the lion showed that it is the new subspecies diverse from the other prehistoric lions. This differs from those European cave lion or Panthera leo spelaea through its bigger size and also from North American cave lions or Panthera leo atrox through its skull proportions and smaller size.
