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Asiatic Lions tested positive for Covid
Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment
- The story: Eight Asiatic lions at Hyderabad’s Nehru Zoological Park tested positive for the deadly coronavirus, in May 2021, scaring the zookeepers. It is the first known case of humans infecting the felines, and making them sick, in India. Earlier in 2020, a tiger being infected with Covid-19 was reported in New York (Bronx Zoo).
- Points to note: The Asiatic Lion (also known as the Persian Lion or Indian Lion) is a member of the Panthera Leo Leo subspecies that is restricted to India. Its previous habitats consisted of West Asia and the Middle East before it became extinct in these regions.
- Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. The most striking morphological character, which is always seen in Asiatic lions, and rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.
- Distribution - Asiatic lions were once distributed to the state of West Bengal in east and Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, in central India. At present, the Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the only abode of the Asiatic lion. In 2020, the Gujarat Forest Department announced an increase in the population of Asiatic lions in the Gir forest region.
- Threats - Its vulnerability to unpredictable events such as a plague or a natural disaster is high. Poaching and locals near the Gir National Park killing the lions in retaliation for attacks on livestock is not uncommon.
- Protection Status - IUCN Red List: Endangered | CITES: Appendix I | Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972: Schedule I
- Conservation efforts: The “Asiatic Lion Conservation Project” has been launched by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It has been approved for three financial years from 2018 to 2021. It envisages scientific management with the involvement of communities in coordination with multi-sectoral agencies for disease control and veterinary care for overall conservation of Asiatic lions.
- Nehru Zoological Park: It is one of the largest zoos of India and one of the top sightseeing places to visit in Hyderabad, Telangana. Run by the Forest department, Government of Telangana, the zoo has been named after Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of the country. It was opened to the public in 1963, and is situated near the historically important Mir Alam Tank, which is 200 year old and is the first multi-arch masonry dam in the world.
- Knowledge centre:
- Big Cats - There are 38 species of cats on the planet. Most are relatively small, but some — the lion, tiger, leopard, snow leopard, clouded leopard, jaguar, lynx, and cheetah — are big. These big cats are among the most beloved and recognizable animals on the planet. Most big cats are members of the genus Panthera. Small and medium cats, including housecats, are member of Felis. Cheetahs, which do not have retractable claws, are in their own genus, called Acinonyx. Big cats are found around the world in habitats as varied as mangrove swamps in India to wooded forests in the western U.S. The main difference between big cats and most of their cousins is in the noises they make. Smaller cats purr; big cats (with the exception of cheetahs, lynx, and snow leopards) roar. They also squeak, grunt, scream, and make several other sounds, thanks to a ligament in their voice boxes. Lions are the only big cats that live in groups, called prides. Lionesses hunt together, bringing down large prey like wildebeests and zebras. All other big cats live solitary lives, with the exception of mothers and cubs. Some, like the snow leopard, are especially elusive and rarely seen. The largest big cat is the Siberian tiger, which can weigh an astonishing 660 pounds and stretch more than 10 feet nose to tail. It is one of six surviving tiger subspecies.
- Cats versus Dogs - A joint study between six universities from US, Brazil, Denmark, and South Africa found that dogs have twice as many neurons in their cerebral cortex compared to cats. Specifically, dogs had around 530 million neurons, whereas cats only had 250 million neurons, which suggests that dogs are more intelligent. Humans have around 16 billion neurons in our cerebral cortex, and orangutans and gorillas only have around 8-9 billion neurons. The research found that larger animals with larger brains such as lions and bears had fewer neurons than smaller ones such as cats and dogs. Furthermore, animals that had similar brain size could have significantly different number of neurons. This suggests that brain size is not the main factor in determining intelligence. Both cats and dogs lived side by side with people long before distinct breeds emerged. Skeletal evidence from western Russia suggests that dog domestication dates to at least 19,000 years ago, while cats were domesticated more recently — about 10,000 years ago, based on remains excavated in the Near East.
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