Lion

The Lion

Belonging ti the genus Panthera, the lion is one of the largest mammals on earth. Until the late Pleistocene era, 10,000 years ago, lions were widespread and found on all the five continents of the earth, before the population began to decline. By the twentieth century the lion was found exclusively in the grasslands of East and Southern Africa, and in very small numbers in the Gir forest of western India. 

The lion attained an almost mythical status as “king of the beasts” and symbolized royalty for many cultures, e.g., the Lion and the Unicorn, the Lion of Judah; “lion-seat” in Sanskrit, sinhasana, designates the royal throne; Singapore is lion city. 

The surname Singh comes from the same root, and is used by India's warrior castes, the Sikhs and the Rajputs. In Europe there was of course Richard the Lion-heart. The Egyptian sphinx is a lioness with a human female face. And in some Islamic Shia mythologies, the first imam, Ali, was often identified with a lion. In Africa too a brave person could be called a lion. In the ancient Indian Sanskrit fables, however, the lion was a vain, pretentious, and a foolish animal; on the other hand the man-lion was an avatar of the god Vishnu.

Lion in Winter. Photo by Elena (Spadina Road, Toronto, Canada).

The lion has been a major attraction in zoos and national parks of developed nations. It also has had a more real relationship with humans, as a terror and a devourer of people. The Romans fed early Christians to liens. Stories of man-eaters were common in twentieth-century Africa, the most famous of which are described in an account called The Man-Eaters of Tsavo, set in Eastern Africa. Another curious story from Africa of the same period involves what came to be known as the man-lion murders.

The lion does not hunt at night.The lion would be in a place where lions have a strong regal association in people's minds. A zoo lion's habits are not normal, pacing his cage at midnight.