Lion

 🗺️ Native range of wild lions (past vs present)

🌍 Where lions are (and were)

Historical range

The Lion once had one of the widest ranges of any large land mammal:

• Most of Africa
• The Middle East
• Parts of southern Europe (e.g., Greece)
• Across India

They disappeared from Europe and most of Asia thousands to hundreds of years ago (e.g., the Asiatic lion vanished from the Middle East in historical times).

Current wild range

Today, wild lions survive in two main regions:

1. Sub-Saharan Africa

• Scattered populations across:
• East Africa (Tanzania, Kenya)
• Southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa, Namibia)
• Smaller, fragmented groups in West and Central Africa

2. India (single population)

• The only Asian population lives in and around
  Gir National Park
• This is the last refuge of the Asiatic lion

📉 Range collapse

• Lions now occupy ~8–10% of their historical range
• Major causes:
• Habitat loss
• Conflict with humans (livestock protection)
• Decline of prey animals

🧭 Key contrast with tigers

• Lions historically ranged across Africa + Eurasia
• Tigers were Asia-only
• Today:
• Lions = mostly Africa (+ 1 population in India)
• Tigers = scattered across Asia only

If you want, I can overlay lions and tigers on the same map—it’s a fascinating way to see where their ranges once nearly touched.