Lions were present in North America throughout the Pleistocene. At their peak they covered much of the continent from the sub-Arctic to the tropics. They disappeared from North America, over a fairly short period, around 11000 years ago.

The Asiatic lion ranged over much of Southern and South-Western Asia, from Syria to Bengal, as recently as 1750. Over the course of 200 years they were hunted very near to extinction until by the 1970s there were fewer than 200 of them, all located in north-western India. There are now approximately 400, all located in one reserve in Gujarat.

Lions existed in Great Britain up until around 13000 years ago. It was present in the Balkan peninsula until very approximately 2500 years ago. The last lions in according to Hoyle Europe were Asiatic lions that range up to what is now Georgia as recently as 1000 years ago.

Interesting. I didn’t know about their existence in Europe. Seems quite a few critters went missing in the British Isles. Simple stochastic effects? Or in-breeding depression? Or insufficient prey? (Unlikely for herbivores though…)

I don’t know. It does seem that the extinction of the British lion (and other big cats of Britain) came a couple of thousand years before the arrival of humans.

It’s a given that I have very little knowledge on this subject, but I would be inclined to think that as humans began to become sapiens, and began to be pissed off with big cats eating them, they would form hunting parties in order to kill off their own predators.

I know I would.

Kingy said:

I know I would.

Sure, sure, but these extinctions seem to have happened about 2000 years before the arrival of humans.

There was a cold snap around 12000 years ago. Maybe it got too cold for the cats, they died, and then when it got warm in Britain the humans came.

dv said:

Kingy said:

I know I would.

Sure, sure, but these extinctions seem to have happened about 2000 years before the arrival of humans.

At this point I would be doing my best to confirm the date at which humans arrived.

But, to reiterate: I don’t know.

Should point out that there were “humans” in Britain before this but they had already died out. 13000 years ago there shouldn’t have been anyone around.

Should point out that there were “humans” in Britain before this but they had already died out. 13000 years ago there shouldn’t have been anyone around.
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More likely a diminished population, that ergo, is harder to find evidence of…

Dunno about “more likely” but possibly

> The Asiatic lion ranged over much of Southern and South-Western Asia, from Syria to Bengal, as recently as 1750.

This doesn’t seem possible. Lions and tigers interbreed, so the geographic separation must have been maintained for a very long time in order for the two to develop separate appearance. The tiger’s range covers (or covered) almost all of Asia from Indonesia in the south-east to Siberia in the north-east as far as:

“Panthera tigris virgata – Last spotted in 1968 near the Aral River, the Caspian tiger is one of three tiger subspecies that is now extinct. Historically, the Caspian tiger was found west and south of the Caspian Sea in Turkey and Iran and into Central Asia, including parts of the Takla Makan desert in Xinjiang, China, and were sometimes referred to as the Turanian tiger.”

I can accept that lions lived in Europe and America, and east of Syria perhaps as far east as Pakistan, but I won’t accept that lions lived in or anywhere near Bengal, not without proof.

mollwollfumble said:

> The Asiatic lion ranged over much of Southern and South-Western Asia, from Syria to Bengal, as recently as 1750.

This doesn’t seem possible. Lions and tigers interbreed, so the geographic separation must have been maintained for a very long time in order for the two to develop separate appearance. The tiger’s range covers (or covered) almost all of Asia from Indonesia in the south-east to Siberia in the north-east as far as:

“Panthera tigris virgata – Last spotted in 1968 near the Aral River, the Caspian tiger is one of three tiger subspecies that is now extinct. Historically, the Caspian tiger was found west and south of the Caspian Sea in Turkey and Iran and into Central Asia, including parts of the Takla Makan desert in Xinjiang, China, and were sometimes referred to as the Turanian tiger.”

I can accept that lions lived in Europe and America, and east of Syria perhaps as far east as Pakistan, but I won’t accept that lions lived in or anywhere near Bengal, not without proof.

Not at the same time as tigers or at least not for very long could the two species overlap.