The story of Asia's lions

Lions once roamed the Asian continent from Palestine to Palamau. For more than half a century now all that remains is a relict population in the Gir forest and its surrounding areas in Saurashtra, the home of the only lion population outside Africa. The animal's precarious existence has virtually disappeared from our consciousness. How this state of affairs has come to pass, and the status of the surviving lions, is the theme of this book. The author introduces the lion and its present habitat, and goes on to examine through written and visual records the interaction between this majestic animal and human beings in Asia, from the earliest available historical records to the present day. Through Sanskrit, Persian, and other contemporaneous sources the profound effect the lion has had on human civilization and culture, and the story of the destruction of the species in Asia is traced. Also documented here are the censuses conducted in the last hundred years to monitor its population dynamics, and the history of the attempts to find a second home for the lion, which still continue. This second edition concludes with an epilogue that provides an update on the status of this endangered animal.