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Asiatic Lion
The lion of India — a little smaller than its African cousin, with a fold of belly skin, surviving in the wild only in Gujarat's Gir forest.
How to spot it
Slightly smaller than the African lion, with a shorter, sparser mane that leaves the ears showing, and a distinctive long fold of skin along the belly. Males carry the mane; the sandy-brown females do most of the hunting.
Where it lives
The last wild Asiatic lions live in and around the Gir forest and surrounding grasslands of Gujarat — a dry, deciduous landscape. They once ranged across the Middle East and northern India; today Gir is their only natural home.
What it eats
A carnivore that hunts in prides, mostly taking chital, sambar, nilgai, wild boar and, at the forest edge, livestock. Lionesses often hunt together, driving prey towards one another, and the pride shares the kill.
Behaviour & life
The most social of the big cats, though Asiatic prides tend to be smaller than African ones, and males and females often live apart except to mate. Cubs are raised together, and the pride defends a shared territory.
In India
Only a few hundred survive, all descended from a tiny remnant saved in Junagadh over a century ago. Classed as Endangered and protected under Schedule I, they are so concentrated in one place that a single disease outbreak or fire is a genuine danger — which is why a second home for them is long debated.
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