The Indian Lion 



one mentioned in the Delhi Gazette as having been 

 shot in Central India was only 8 feet 7 inches ; while 

 the specimen mentioned above as described in the 

 Oriental Sporting Magazine for July 1876 reached 

 9 feet 3 inches. A specimen shot by Lord Harris was 

 still larger, its length being 9 feet 7 inches ; but one 

 killed by Colonel Fenton measured 9 feet 5 inches. 

 As lions of considerably over 10 feet in length have 

 been obtained, even in Somaliland, it will be obvious 

 that none of the above-mentioned specimens can be 

 regarded as really large animals. The length of the 

 skull of Lord Harris's specimen is only 13^ inches, 

 whereas a Somali lion-skull of 15 inches is on record, 

 and a South-East African example reaching 16^ inches 

 is known. 



A pair of Asiatic lions exhibited in the Surrey 

 Zoological Gardens were brought home from Basra, 

 at the head of the Persian Gulf, in H.M.S. Boyne^ 

 by the captain of which vessel they were presented 

 to George IV., and on arrival were deposited in the 

 Royal Menagerie at Exeter Change. They were 

 described as relatively small, with hair of a pale 

 fawn-colour. 



Lions being inhabitants of more or less open, dry, and 

 sandy districts, a large portion of India, such as the Assam 

 Valley, the sub-Himalayan Terai, the sal-forest of the 

 Narbada, the swamps of Lower Bengal, and the greater 

 part of Madras, are totally unsuited to their habits ; and 

 their limited geographical distribution in the country is 

 thus easily accounted for. The same cause may explain 

 their absence from the countries to the eastward of the 

 Bay of Bengal. When less uncommon than it now is, 

 the Indian lion was said to avoid, as a general rule, 

 heavy forest, preferring sandy hills covered with thin 

 scrub and grass, among which it might be stalked on 

 foot with the danger attached to tiger-shooting under 

 similar conditions. According to native reports, lions 

 in India were always in the habit of selecting one 



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