Lions — Europe, Asia & The Middle East

"Recognizing that it would be expedient to move ten to fifteen Gir lions to another reserve, wildlife experts selected the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary, 800 km (500 miles) to the northeast in the state of Madhya Pradesh... Despite two decades of discussion, however, the lions remain at Gir. The problem is political rather than practical. Although the relocation programme has the support of the federal government and the Wildlife Institute of India, it has met with fierce resistance in the lions' present home, the state of Gujarat. Gujaratis do not want to relinquish their hold on the lions."

In 1965, India's Gir Forest, the last refuge of the Asiatic lion, was designated a sanctuary, and hunting of all species was prohibited. The area was declared a national park in 1975, and then further expanded in 1979. Today, the Gir Forest is home to between 200-260 Asian lions.

The last pride of five Persian lions is hunted in the Dasht-i Arzhan of Fars Province.

“With the birth of the Republic of India on January 26, 1950 its Constitution became its cornerstone... Thus, the responsibility for the lion rested firmly with the states... But to the Central government, its protection became a matter of concern from the very early days. The Indian Board for wildlife was formed to advise the Central government on conservation and the lion itself became the national animal of the country on its advice in 1952, as it was ‘more indigenous to India’ than the other great cat of the subcontinent, the tiger.”

"Alarmed by rumours of dwindling numbers of lions, the British Viceroy Lord Curzon famously declined to shoot one on a state visit in 1900, and he encouraged British officers to follow his example—a call which fell on deaf ears.”

"The lion is no longer found in Asia Minor, but it exists in Mesopotamia and Arabistan, between Poelis, west of Aleppo, and Deyr, and in the Euphrates Valley, where it frequents the impenetrable thickets growing in places along the banks and on the islands in the river; it is also found in the lower part of the Karun River, but is nowhere plentiful... In India they are surviving in a few localities, such as Kathiawar in small numbers; there may be odd ones in Rajputana. A generation ago they were comparatively common about Jodhpur, Oodeypur, Gwalior, Goona, Kota, Mount Abu, and Lalolpur. In 1830 lions were common near Ahmedabad. The last lion to be killed in Allahabad country is said to have been killed in 1864."

"In India the lion is verging on extinction. There are probably a very few still living in the wild tract known as the Gir in Kattywar, and a few more in the wildest parts of Rájputána, especially Southern Jodhpur, in Oodeypur, and around Mount Abu."

"At the request of His Highness the Nawab of Junagadh, it is notified for public information that an interdict has been issued by His Highness against the destruction of lions in the Gir forest. As this order has emanated from a request preferred by His Excellency the Governor of Bombay who fears that this race of free nature [i.e. lions] may become extinct unless means are taken for their preservation it is hoped by the undersigned that it will be respected by European sportsmen."”It was the efforts of the Junagadh state under the last two nawabs, with some encouragement from the British administration, that we have to thank for the survival of over 200 lions and their habitat, the Gir forest, in 1947.”

"Lions, which are very numerous in the reedy swamps bordering the Tigris and Euphrates, are found also in the plains of the Susiana, the modern Khúzistán, and extend into the mountain country south of Shiráz as far east as longitude 53.... The little valley of Dashtiarjan, thirty-five miles west of Shiráz, is notorious for the number of lions found in its vicinity... Dashtiarjan is... a perfect paradise for swine,... so that the lions have plenty to eat."

“The lions of North Africa fifty years ago were certainly enormous, if not always in height, generally in weight, for they lived almost entirely in many districts on the Arab flocks, and a mutton-fed lion got very fat indeed.”

"In the Middle East in the mid-19th century, the lion ranged from Mesopotamia through the Iranian province of Khuzestan to Fars... By the beginning of the 20th century, the lion had disappeared from Mesopotamia, but still occurred in several areas in Khuzastan and Fars. The last lion in Iran was seen by an Indian surveyor of the British Army in 1942, in an area 65 km (40 miles) northwest of the city of Dezful."

"Once there were lions across southwestern Asia. There were lions in Syria. There were lions in Mesopotamia, along with the bottomlands of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There were lions in Baluchistan, an area known as southern Pakistan. There were lions all the way into India—from the Sind borderlands in the west to as far east as Palamau, within several hundred miles of Calcutta.... There were lions, quite a few of them, in the outskirts of Delhi."

The lion hunt relief of King Ashurbanipal displays his royal might and presents him as the defender of his people from these beasts. An inscription reads, "Since I have succeeded to the throne of my father... lions have bred in mighty numbers... They constantly kill the livestock of the fields, and they spill the blood of men and cattle. The herdsmen and the supervisors are weeping; the families are in mourning. The misdeeds of these lions have been reported to me... In the course of my expedition I have penetrated their hiding places and destroyed their lairs." These plentiful lions of the Fertile Crescent in the days of Ashurbanipal could not compete.

"Adad has sent his rains, Ea has opened up his fountains, the forests have been thriving exceedingly, the reeds in the marches have shot up so high there is no getting through them. The young lions grew up therein, in countless numbers... They became fierce and terrible through devouring of herds, flocks, and people. With their roaring the hills resound, the beasts of the plain are terrified."