Transvaal lion

Transvaal lion
Transvaal lion at Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Transvaal lioness at Kruger National Park, South Africa.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: P. leo
Subspecies: P. l. krugeri
Trinomial name
Panthera leo krugeri
(Roberts, 1929)

The Transvaal lion (Panthera leo krugeri), also known as the Southeast African lion or Kalahari lion, is a subspecies of the lion that reportedly lives in Southern Africa, including Kruger National Park and Hlane Royal National Park. Lions of the Kalahari Region may be either Panthera leo krugeri or Panthera leo bleyenberghi.[1] It is named after the Transvaal region in South Africa.

Evolutionary history

A phylogeographic analysis based on mtDNA sequences of lions from across their entire range indicates that Sub-Saharan African lions are phylogenetically basal to all modern lions. This suggests an African origin of the evolution of modern lions, with a probable center in Eastern–Southern Africa, from where lions migrated to West Africa, eastern North Africa and Asia.[2] Modern lions are related to prehistoric cave lions, such as the Upper Pleistocene European cave lion.[3][4][5]

According to recent genetic research, the extinct black-maned Cape lion,[6] formerly described as a separate subspecies, is not significantly different from other Southern African lions. Therefore, the Cape lion may have represented the southernmost population of the Transvaal lion, or it was closely related to Kalahari lions.[1][7][8][9]

Physical characteristics

The male usually has a well-developed mane. Most of them are black-maned as well. Males are around 2.6–3.2 m (8.5–10.5 ft) long including the tail. Females are 2.35–2.75 m (7.7–9.0 ft). Generally, the weight of males is 150–250 kg (330–550 lb), while the females are 110–182 kg (243–401 lb). They have a shoulder height of 0.92–1.23 m (3.0–4.0 ft).[1]

According to Rodrigues (1997), lions of the Kalahari xeric savanna, despite being lighter than lions in Mesic habitats, were taller at the shoulder than them. A number of them also possessed black manes.[7]

In 1936, a lion shot in Hectorspruit, South Africa, weighing about 313 kg (690 lb), was reportedly the heaviest wild lion on record.[10] For reasons like this, and that the longest wild lion on record apparently was an Angolan lion (Panthera leo bleyenberghi),[1][10] the Transvaal and Katangan subspecies (collectively, the Southern African subspecies) appear to be the biggest of the species Panthera leo, in the wilderness of Africa.[11]

White lion

Main article: White lion
White lions owe their coloring to a recessive gene; they are rare forms of the subspecies Panthera leo krugeri.

White lions are actually color mutation of the Transvaal lions. Leucism occurs only in this type of lion, but is quite rare. They are found in a few wildlife reserves and mostly in zoos worldwide.

Habitat and distribution

Transvaal lions live in the savannah, grasslands and semi-arid regions. The Transvaal lion is the southernmost subspecies of African lions, ranging from southern Namibia to southeastern Mozambique.[1]

Ecology and behavior

Transvaal lions feed on herbivorous mammals such as zebras, African buffalo, wildebeests, warthogs and blesboks. They might prey on larger animals like southern white rhinos, South African giraffes and South African ostriches on certain occasions. Black-maned Kalahari lions would also chase down baboons.

Conservation status

Captive Transvaal lion in Philadelphia Zoo.

There are more than 2000 lions of this subspecies in the well-protected Kruger National Park.[12] In addition about 100 lions are registered under the name P. l. krugeri by the International Species Information System. These animals are derived from animals captured in South Africa.[13][14]

Introduction projects

On June 28, 2015. The African Parks network relocated Transvaal lions to Akagera National Park in Rwanda. They opted replacing it with this subspecies because they could not get the Masai lion[1] from Tanzania. The Masai subspecies was the type which originally occurred in the park.[15][16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haas, S.K.; Hayssen, V.; Krausman, P.R. (2005). "Panthera leo" (PDF). Mammalian Species. 762: 1–11. doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2005)762[0001:PL]2.0.CO;2.
  2. ↑ Barnett, R.; Yamaguchi, N.; Barnes, I.; Cooper, A. (2006). "The origin, current diversity and future conservation of the modern lion (Panthera leo)". Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 273 (1598): 2119–2125. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3555. PMC 1635511Freely accessible. PMID 16901830.
  3. ↑ Barnett, Ross; Mendoza, Marie Lisandra Zepeda; Soares, André Elias Rodrigues; Ho, Simon Y W; Zazula, Grant; Yamaguchi, Nobuyuki; Shapiro, Beth; Kirillova, Irina V; Larson, Greger; Gilbert, M Thomas P. "Mitogenomics of the Extinct Cave Lion, Panthera spelaea (Goldfuss, 1810), Resolve its Position within the Panthera Cats". OpenQuaternary.com. Retrieved 2016-11-03.
  4. ↑ Kurtén, B. (1968). Pleistocene Mammals of Europe. Transaction Publishers, 2007. p. 317. ISBN 0202309533.
  5. ↑ Burger, J., Rosendahl, F., Loreille, O., Hemmer, H., Eriksson, T., Götherström, A., Hiller, J., Collins, M. J., Wess, T., Alt, K. W. (2004). "Molecular phylogeny of the extinct cave lion Panthera leo spelaea". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 30 (3): 841–849. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2003.07.020. PMID 15012963.
  6. ↑ "Panthera leo melanochaitus". Petermaas.nl. The Sixth Extinction Website. 2005-11-15. Retrieved 2015-09-21.
  7. 1 2 "Kalahari xeric savanna". Worldwildife.org. 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  8. ↑ Yamaguchi, N. (2000). The Barbary lion and the Cape lion: their phylogenetic places and conservation. African Lion Working Group News 1: 9–11.
  9. ↑ Barnett, R., Yamaguchi, N.; Barnes, I.; Cooper, A. (2006). "Lost populations and preserving genetic diversity in the lion Panthera leo: Implications for its ex situ conservation" (PDF). Conservation Genetics. 7 (4): 507. doi:10.1007/s10592-005-9062-0.
  10. 1 2 Wood, The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. Sterling Pub Co Inc (1983), ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9
  11. ↑ Smuts, G.L.; Robinson, G.A.; Whyte, I.J. (1980). "Comparative growth of wild male and female lions (Panthera leo)". Journal of Zoology. 190 (3): 365–373. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1980.tb01433.x.
  12. ↑ The Kruger Nationalpark Map. Honeyguide Publications CC. South Africa 2004.
  13. ↑ Barnett, R.; Yamaguchi, N.; Barnes, I. & Cooper, A. (2006). "The origin, current diversity and future conservation of the modern lion (Panthera leo)". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 273 (1598): 2119–25. doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3555. PMC 1635511Freely accessible. PMID 16901830.
  14. ↑ Neumann, O. (1900). Die von mir in den Jahren 1892–95 in Ost- und Central-Afrika, speciell in den Massai-Ländern und den Ländern am Victoria Nyansa gesammelten und beobachteten Säugethiere. Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abtheilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Thiere 13 (VI): 529–562.
  15. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/28/rwanda-lions-reintroduced-south-africa-akagera-national-park
  16. ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/grp/post/2649321-6025748265687875586?trk=groups-post-b-title
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