By: Norman Ali Khalaf-von Jaffa.
*Note: This article was published in "Gazelle: The Palestinian Biological Bulletin". Number 52, April 2006. Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which hath been invoked the name of other than God; that which hath been killed by strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored to death; that which hath been (partly) eaten by a carnivore (or wild cat , Al Sabu’u); unless ye are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone (altars); (Forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows : that is impiety. The Holy Qur’an, Suret Al Mai’da (The Table Spread), Aya 3.
Despite its small area, Palestine has a relatively rich fauna, due to its location at the crossroads of three continents and because of the large variety of habitats and climates. Carnivores are represented by 17 species: one viverrid; one hyaenid; five canids; five mustelids, and five recent felids. Two additional felids have become extinct. The Asiatic or Persian lion (Panthera leo persica) became extinct after the time of the Crusaders, and the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) was last seen in southern Palestine in 1959.
Most of the Wildlife in Palestine is legally protected by the Israeli Wild Animals Protection Law, enacted in l954. This law also protected all carnivores, except the Syrian jackal (Canis aureus syriacus), which was only later declared a protected species. The Wildlife in Palestine is also legally protected by the Palestinian Environment Law no. 7, enacted in 1999. The legal protection of carnivores in Palestine is reasonably well enforced. Cases of intentional killing of carnivores, mainly by shooting, are rare and carried out only by the Arabs and Druse, with whom the traditional animosity towards carnivores is still prevalent. There are, however, occasional cases of mortality caused by pesticides, mainly secondary poisoning from feeding on poisoned pest rodents. Mortality of carnivores caused by humans in Palestine is mainly through road accidents, which, however, do not appear to endanger any species, as shown by the hyaena (Hyaena hyaena). This species has a small population in Palestine (rough estimate: 150), and is very prone to road accidents, with about 20 animals being killed in this way every year. However, the population seems to be slowly increasing. One advantage of road deaths is that they provide documentation on the distribution of the carnivores concerned. For example, the recent spread of the stone marten (Martes foina) is well-documented by road deaths.
The five recent species of felids occurring in Palestine are: the Palestine Wild Cat (Felis silvestris tristrami), the Sand Cat (Felis margarita margarita) and the Arabian subspecies (Felis margarita harrisoni), the Palestine Jungle Cat (Felis chaus furax), the Arabian Caracal Lynx (Caracal caracal schmitzi) and the Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr).
The Palestine Wild Cat (Felis silvestris tristrami):
This species was until recently quite common and widely distributed in mesic as well as in desert habitats. The preferred habitat is open Mediterranean forest in hilly areas. In this habitat they reach a high density of approximately one specimen per km2. They also occurred formerly in plains, where cover was available, but these areas are now mostly cultivated. In the desert the distribution is sporadic, but they have been found in different desert habitats, even in sandy areas. Specimens from the desert are much lighter in colour than the relatively dark ones from Al-Jaleel (Galilee) and the Syrian Golan Heights.
The species is endangered by habitat destruction and especially by the large number of feral domestic cats, which compete for food, and interbreed with them. Unlike other carnivores, Felis silvestris cannot make use of cultivated habitats because of the competition from domestic cats. Because the feral domestic cats are larger than wild cats, they are probably dominant when competing for food and for oestrous females. Feral cats are able to build up dense populations because their main food source is found in garbage and because they produce two litters per year, whereas wild cats normally breed only once.
Another danger for wild cats is feline distemper. Wild cats have no resistance whatsoever to this infection and captive-bred wild cats always succumb if not vaccinated in time. Feral cats acquire resistance at an early age. Feline distemper may be one of the reasons for the decline of wild cat populations in recent years. Few nature reserves in northern Palestine are large enough to ensure the survival of pure F. s. tristrami. A breeding group of pure wild cats is kept at the Canadian Center for Ecological Zoology at Tel Aviv University.
The Sand Cat (Felis margarita margarita) and the Arabian subspecies (Felis margarita harrisoni):
Sand cats have been found in sandy desert habitats in the Egyptian Sinai Desert (the exact localities are withheld in order not to endanger these populations) and in the Arabah (Aravah) depression in southern Palestine. The local population is morphologically and biochemically identical with F. m. margarita from North Africa. They are restricted to sandy habitats that unfortunately have been found to be good agricultural soil in Palestine, and are now largely cultivated. There are, however, still quite large sandy areas on the Jordanian side of the Arabah depression.
A field study of this species was carried out by M. Abbadi of the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority. He carried out the first radio-telemetry study of the sand cat in Palestine, and knew of 22 individuals within his 100 km2 study area. The home range of one adult male was estimated at 16 km2, and overlapped with those of neighboring males. The sand cats live in burrows, probably excavated by other animals, such as Rueppell's sand fox (Vulpes rueppelli). Quite often they have also been found outside their burrows during the day. They occasionally move over large distances; one of the males, after having been trapped, went eight km in one night but returned to his home burrow the next night. Remnants of spiny-tailed lizards (Uromastyx aegyptius), that are very common in the area, have been found near their burrows, indicating that they feed, among other things, on this large diurnal lizard.
Two females, found at night by Z. Zook-Rimon, crouched when located by the headlights of the jeep, did not move when approached from behind, and could be picked up by hand. A young male in the Sinai Desert behaved in the same way.
Although the sand cat has been frequently described as rare, this may be a result of its harsh environment and nocturnal, subterranean and secretive habits. For example, M. Abbadi describes the cats’ “freezing” behaviour when disturbed by people, and tendency to close their eyes against lights at night, making them very difficult to spot.
A breeding group is kept at the Canadian Center for Ecological Zoology at Tel Aviv University. Young are born from spring to autumn, 2-5 kittens per litter. The captive sand cats dig much more in the sand covering the floor of the cages than do other cats. This well-developed digging behaviour may perhaps indicate that they dig for food or perhaps excavate burrows for themselves.
The species is endangered in Palestine through destruction of its habitat and predation by larger carnivores, such as caracals and wolves, which find improved availability of food near human settlements and reach higher than normal densities, or dogs. These carnivores, however, rarely enter the areas of soft sand inhabited by the sand cats, but may endanger them if the cats venture into areas of harder soil, as they occasionally do.
The Palestine Jungle Cat (Felis chaus furax):
The jungle cat is fairly common in northern and central Palestine near water: rivers, ponds, swamps, etc. Favourable, man-made habitats are water reservoirs and particularly fish ponds, near which they are often found as food (fish, birds and rodents) is plentiful. The typical jungle cat habitats are in lowlands, but at least in one case a family of jungle cats lived near a small pond in the hills of Al-Jaleel (Galilee), 500 m above sea level. Despite their size, they generally capture relatively small prey. No cases have been recorded of their attacking adult nutria or coypu (Myocastor coypus), but they often prey on young ones. Fish are caught by the mouth through diving into the water, and without much aid from the front feet.
Jungle cats swim willingly and often walk long distances in shallow water, where their tracks may be seen if the water is clear. Jungle cats appear to live in families, at least while the young are being reared. In captivity males are more protective of the young than the females. This behaviour may be connected to the large difference in size between males and females.
The species is not endangered in Palestine. If pisciculture methods were to change from pond culture to intensive fish-farming in small concrete ponds, this would deprive the jungle cats of their most favourable habitat. There would, however, remain sufficient additional habitats to ensure the continued existence of this species.
The Arabian Caracal Lynx (Felis caracal schmitzi) or (Caracal caracal schmitzi):
Caracals are quite common in Palestine south of the Jaffa-Jerusalem line. There are generally few records north of this line. In l964 the Israeli Plant Protection Department of the Ministry of Agriculture organized a large scale poisoning campaign against Syrian jackals (Canis aureus syriacus), that until then were not legally protected (this campaign resulted in the jackal being added to the list of protected wildlife). After this drastic decimation of the formerly very common jackal, Syrian hares (Lepus capensis syriacus) and chukar partridges (Alectoris chukar cypriotes) increased considerably. In the following years more caracals were observed, also in northern Palestine, indicating a possible competition between jackals and caracals. Jackals have the competitive advantage as their main food source is garbage dumps, whereas caracals are dependent on game. Caracals feed mainly on hares, but also on chukar and desert partridges (Ammoperdix heyi), and occasionally also on hedgehogs, rodents, etc. Several cases have been recorded of caracals preying on gazelles. They also take dead chickens and turkeys that have been thrown on garbage dumps by poultry farms, and a caracal was also reported to have been seen driving a hyaena from a carcass at one of the feeding stations that are run by the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority for vultures.
A study on caracals has been carried out by Y. Weisbein in the northern Arabah depression. In an area of about 100 km2, 13 caracals were trapped and marked, and eight were fitted with radio transmitters. This high density is due to the fact that two agricultural settlements are situated in this area. The year-round availability of succulent green food, of weed seeds and water, has caused a considerable increase in caracal prey, mainly hares and desert partridges. Many of the caracals had home ranges that extended beyond the research area, so that the density is actually less than 13 per 100 km2, but still quite high. Males have larger home ranges than females, with some overlap of home ranges and the same area may be visited by different specimens.
Weisbein and Mendelssohn (1990) measured male home ranges as 220 km2 on average, ranging from 98 to 352 km2. Female home ranges varied from 2 to 112 km2 and averaged 57 km2. They overlapped by about 27% (males’ by 50%). Female ranges generally exclude others so that they can rear their offspring. Old caracals lose their defended areas to younger more vigorous individuals and are forced to wander.
In the area between Jaffa, Jerusalem and Gaza, a dark colour morph occurs. These caracals are grey, darker on the forepart of the body, very different from the normal light reddish-brown colour. Young kittens of this morph are almost black. About 5-10% of the population in this area is of this grey morph. The average weight of male caracals in Palestine is 9.8+1.8 kg (n=6); females weigh 6.2+0.7 kg (n=5) and are markedly smaller than males.
Caracals are said to be nocturnal but they are often seen during the day. In colder areas they are more diurnal. Weisbein’s radio-telemetry study in Palestine found that caracals rest during the day in dense vegetation or a rock crevice, and were generally active from dusk to dawn and in early morning. Social behaviour is limited to courtship and mating.
During oestrus females copulate with several males in a “pecking order” which is related to the age and size of the male. One female was found to have mated with three different males during every oestrus period, each time the same individuals in the same sequence.
Females require no help from the males to rear their offspring, which will be driven off as soon as they are old enough. Their distinctive and contrasting ears are used to accentuate facial expressions; an “ear-flick” is used as a mild threat gesture. Good climbers, they take to trees when pursued by dogs. Kills are sometimes dragged up into the fork of a tree where the carcass can be devoured at leisure. Described as fierce, they have been observed to drive away hyaenas.
Reputed to be extremely fast runners, caracals are the fastest cats of their size. They often make vertical leaps several feet high in pursuit of birds, to knock them down.
The phrase “To put the cat among the pigeons” refers to the caracal. Wagers were placed by the Indian Moghuls on the cats, as they were released into tame pigeon flocks; the object was to see how many they could disable.
Marco Polo reported that the Grand Khan of Cathay used them to hunt. Apparently easy to train, caracals were used to hunt hares, crows, cranes, peafowl and even kites.
Caracals use the big cat technique of a throat bite to kill mountain reedbuck. These antelopes are about twice the size of a caracal (25-30 kg), and form an important part of their diet. In one study, mountain reedbucks were found in 20% of caracal scats, making 70% of their mass. Small cats usually hunt prey smaller than themselves and therefore do not need to use the throat bite to subdue a larger animal.
Harrison and Bates (1991) note a report from southern Arabia of a caracal killed by a wounded oryx it had attacked. K. de Smet found the tracks of a caracal pursuing a dorcas gazelle in Algeria, and caracals to the north-west of Lake Chad are reputed to hunt these gazelles, hence the local Toubou name “gazelle cat” (Dragesco-Joffe 1993). Roberts (1977) notes a record of a caracal stalking a group of feeding urial in daylight in Pakistan. Caracals have also been observed to feed on carrion: Mendelssohn describes garbage dumps at poultry farms as rich food sources, and once saw a caracal leap onto a cart of dead turkeys and select one. A caracal was observed chasing two sub-adult striped hyaenas from a donkey carcass.
The caracal is not endangered in Palestine.
The Leopard (Panthera pardus):
Three subspecies of leopard have occurred in this area. The Sinai leopard (Panthera pardus jarvisi) is now extinct and very little material of this subspecies exists in collections. As in the extremely overgrazed, over browsed and over hunted Sinai very little wildlife remained, leopards had, in recent times, to prey on the goats of the Bedouin herds and were, therefore, relentlessly persecuted. They were trapped and killed in the traditional stone traps, as well as steel traps, and were shot. Tracks of at least one leopard were seen in 1956, but by 1967 and later, no more tracks were found, and this population must be considered extinct.
A second subspecies, the Anatolian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) existed until recently in Al-Jaleel (Galilee). Specimens of this subspecies are very big and are among the largest leopard subspecies. They must have been plentiful in the past, as in many villages in Al-Jaleel; skins of leopards were to be found in the 30s and 40s of last century. There were many sight records and some records of specimens killed. Possible preys were wild boar (Sus scrofa libycus), Indian porcupines (Hystrix indica), Syrian rock hyrax (Procavia capensis syriaca) and Syrian jackals (Canis aureus syriacus). Because of heavy hunting pressure this food source was not very ample, apparently, and leopards preyed from time to time on livestock, with the same results as with Sinai leopards. The last specimen, an old male, was cornered in a cave in western Al-Jaleel (Galilee) and killed by a shepherd in 1965.
As the population of the leopards in Al-Jaleel decreased, wild boar populations began to increase, as did the damage caused by these pigs to agriculture, mainly orchards. Later reports of observations in Al-Jaleel have not been substantiated. There are still, from time to time, reports of leopards, probably this subspecies, from different localities in the Syrian Golan Heights. A leopard population in the Golan could be in contact with a population on the thinly-settled Mount Harmon or Hermon, and such a population could be a viable one, if the species were effectively protected in Syria.
The Anatolian leopard (Panthera pardus tulliana) is on the verge of extinction in Turkey, and as it is very rare in the Syrian Golan and on Mount Harmon, if it exists at all, the whole subspecies is highly endangered and the prospects for its continued survival are extremely slim. The isolated, now extinct, population in Al-Jaleel did not survive by the time conservation in Palestine became effective.
In the Judean desert, a rocky wilderness along the western shore of the Dead Sea, and in the Al-Naqab (Negev desert) a third leopard subspecies, the Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr), exists. The Judean desert is a habitat that until recently had been less influenced by human activity than others in Palestine. The Bedouin there hunted every form of wildlife and their herds overgrazed the sparse desert vegetation, but, nevertheless, owing to the difficult terrain, all species survived, albeit in small numbers, and among them the leopards.
When effective conservation began, first in the southern part of the Judean desert from the oasis of Ein Gedi southwards, and after 1967 also in the northern part, vegetation and wildlife recovered. The most dramatic recovery was that of the leopards and one of their prey animals, the Nubian ibex (Capra ibex nubiana). The leopards that had been constantly harassed by the Bedouin, survived in very small numbers only.
The first proof that leopards still existed in this area was a female, killed by Bedouin in 1964 in Wadi Seyal. She had two active teats and was, according to the Bedouin who shot her, accompanied by two others. A year later a male was shot north-west of Ein Gedi. From that time on, leopards were seen more often and, as harassment ceased, the leopards became bolder and less afraid of humans. People often met leopards and in order to minimize the possibility of an attack, the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority forbade camping in the area and restricted hikers to groups of less than five.
Leopards are especially attracted to the oasis of Ein Gedi - a very productive area with a population of about 120-150 ibex in an area of 3-4 km2, several hundred hyrax and also porcupines, all leopard prey. Sometimes three leopards are in this area at the same time. This oasis is visited by tens of thousands of tourists and there is a kibbutz, a youth hostel and a field study center for the Society of Protection of Nature in Israel. Hyrax and ibex have become accustomed to people and are very tame.
Female leopards rearing cubs often visit the settlements at night in order to prey on the numerous domestic cats and on small dogs (large dogs are generally not attacked), notwithstanding the ample amount of natural prey that is available at Ein Gedi. Members of the kibbutz objected to the presence of the leopards on their property, sometimes meeting them on staircases or at close quarters. In order to prevent possible hostile action towards these leopards (one was actually shot at and slightly wounded), the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority trapped and thereby, unfortunately, removed two reproductive females from this small population.
Giora Ilani of the Israeli Nature Reserves Authority began in the 1970's a long-term study of the leopards in the Palestinian Judean desert. Several specimens were equipped with radio transmitters and their activities and home range has been studied. One female has been under observation for almost the whole study period. This population, which developed from a very few specimens and survived the period of intense persecution, is probably much inbred and copulation between a female and her mature son was observed.
The rugged habitat in which these leopards and their main prey, ibex and hyrax, live in the Judean desert, covers an area of 300-400 km2. About 8-10 leopards may live in this area and several more in mountainous areas of the Naqab (Negev), so that the whole population can be estimated at perhaps 15 to 20 specimens.
The Arabian leopard is one of the smallest subspecies -- only (Panthera pardus nanopardus) in Somalia is smaller. Females generally have a weight of 23-28 kg. They lose weight when rearing a cub and gain weight when the cub is weaned. A normal-sized, but very obese female had a weight of 32 kg. This female lived near a hotel area and probably fed on domestic cats and perhaps also on food found in the garbage dump. Males have a weight of 32-35 kg, in one case of 40 kg.
The population is endangered, notwithstanding the protection it enjoys, because of its small number, the restricted area of suitable habitat and by possible conflict with humans and development. Hyaenas may prey on cubs that are left by the mother for several days when she has to hunt.
The Leopard was abundant in Biblical times. It was mentioned several times in the Bible. Nimr or Nimer is the Arabic name for leopard. Several places in the area carry this name like: Nimrim, Nimrah and Beth-Nimrah. One of the valleys entering the Dead Sea from the East, South of the Arnon, is called Wadi-en-Numeir ("valley of the little leopard"; numeir, diminutive of nimr). Many Palestinian Arabic families carry also the Nimr name like: Nimr or Nimer, Al-Nimer, Al-Nimeri, Namour, Numeir.
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. (The Bible, Song of Solomon, 4:8).
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (The Bible, Isaiah, 11:6).
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. (The Bible, Jeremiah, 5:6).
Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are fiercer than the evening wolves: their horsemen press proudly on, and their horsemen shall come from far; they fly like an eagle swift to devour. (The Bible, Habakkuk, 1:8).
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do well, that are accustomed to do evil. (The Bible, Jeremiah 13:23).
After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. (The Bible, Daniel, 7:6).
And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. (The Bible, Revelation, 13:2).
The Asiatic or Iranian Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus):
The Asiatic or Iranian cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) must have been common in the middle Ages because it is mentioned frequently in the writings of the Arabian travelers and by European explorers. By the time of H.B.Tristram (1866), it was very scarce and only located in wooded hills of the Al-Jaleel (Galilee) and near Mount Tabor in Palestine and in the Ajlun (Gilead) mountains in Jordan. The last record from Jordan is of a female and her cub that were killed in 1962, and the only record from the area of Palestine for last century is for 9 December 1959. A truck was driving on the Bie'r Al-Sabe’e (Beer Sheva)-Eilat road early in the morning at 80 km/hr. The drivers saw at about 80 km north of Eilat an animal running on the road in front of the car, easily keeping its distance. When the road made a turn the animal ran straight, leaving the road, and stopped, looking at the passing truck. The drivers, who knew nothing about cheetahs, described the animal as yellow and spotted all over like a leopard, but with a thin body, very long legs, a small cat-like head and a long tail. When shown pictures of a leopard and a cheetah, they insisted they had seen a cheetah. Thirteen days later at 19.00 h, the same animal was possibly seen again for a few seconds, running in front of a moving jeep before disappearing into the night.
The cheetah probably became extinct in Palestine in the last half of the 19th century with remnant populations in Jordan left around Moab until 1900-1912. Hardy (1947) mentions seeing two cheetahs in the Sinai Desert in 1946. Last record of the cheetah in Yemen dates to an observation by J.T. Ducker in 1963 in Wadi Mitan (Harrison and Bates 1991). Last known cheetah in Oman was shot near Jibjat, Dhofar in 1977 (Harrison 1983). Dickson (1949) remarked on the presence of cheetahs in Kuwait. Cheetahs were reported to be rare in the desert west of Basra, Iraq, in 1926 (Corkill 1929). Last record of the cheetah in Iraq is a photograph of one killed by a car between the H1 and H2 pumping stations (Harrison and Bates 1991). Cheetahs were killed in the early 1950s by oil workers near the Saudi Arabian, Jordan and Iraq border intersections (Hatt 1959). Last record for the cheetah in Saudi Arabia dates to 1973, when two were killed near Ha'il and exhibited for a few days near the Imara palace (Nader 1989). The cheetah is now probably extinct in Palestine, Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula.
There are two Asian subspecies: The Transcaspian cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus raddei) from the Caspian Sea area, and the Iranian cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) from Iran, India and the Middle East. These differ somewhat from their African cousins by having a darker colour, longer fur and a somewhat larger body. The Transcaspian cheetah is possibly already extinct. The Iranian cheetah once ranged from North Africa and Palestine eastward to India. European and Asian royalty have hunted it to the point of near extinction. Today it is believed that only about 200 remain, existing as small isolated groups, in northeastern Iran. The Khosh Yeilagn Protected Area in Iran is thought to contain the highest population of the Iranian cheetah.
The Asiatic or Persian Lion (Panthera leo persica):
“Then what is wrong with them that they turn away from receiving admonition. As if they were frightened wild donkeys. Fleeing from a lion (Qaswara).” (The Holy Qur’an, Suret Al-Muddather, Aya 49-51).
Lions are the most powerful of all carnivorous animals. Although not now found in Palestine, they must have been in ancient times very numerous there. They had their lairs in the forests (The Bible: Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 12:8; Amos 3:4), in the caves of the mountains (Song of Solomon 4:8; Nahum 2:12), and in the canebrakes on the banks of the Jordan (Jeremiah 49:19; Jeremiah 50:44; Zechariah 11:3).
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. (The Bible, Jeremiah, 5:6).
Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the forest; she has lifted up her voice against me: therefore have I hated it. (The Bible, Jeremiah, 12:8).
Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has taken nothing? (The Bible, Amos, 3:4).
Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards. (The Bible, Song of Solomon, 4:8).
The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin. (The Bible, Nahum, 2:12).
Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her? For who is like me? And who will appoint me the time? And who is that shepherd that will stand before me? (The Bible, Jeremiah, 49:19 and 50:44).
There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. (The Bible, Zechariah, 11:3).
And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, what is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, if ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle. (The Bible, Judges, 14:18).
The Asiatic or Persian Lion (Felis leo persica), this proud symbol of strength and courage, must have been abundant in Biblical times. According to the Bible, in which it appears under several different names, the lion must have been quite common at that time. The species appears often on mosaics from the Roman and Byzantine periods. The thickets of the Jordan were a preferred habitat. It became extinct after the time of the Crusaders. The last mention of them being by Arab writers of the 13th and 14th century, when lions still existed near Samaria and other areas. One specimen has been hunted at Lejun, near Megiddo, in the thirteenth century. Alfaras Bin Shawer, Wali of Ramla, wrote that he saw eleven dead lions after heavy rain in Ramla and the area of Nahr (River) Al-Auja in 1294. Sanqarshah Almansouri, Naib of Safad (1304-1307), killed in the coastal forests 15 lions. At this time, lions certainly roamed over parts of Syria and Arabia and along the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates in Iraq, where in ancient times lions figured prominently in the great royal hunts in Assyria. It is clear that lions survived in Mesopotamia until the nineteenth century, and there are several references to them by travellers of that period.
The last remnant of the Asiatic Lion, which in historical times ranged from Greece to India through Iran (Persia), lives in the Gir Forest National Park of western India. About 300 lions live in a 1,412 km² (558 square miles) sanctuary in the state of Gujarat. In 1907 there were only 13 lions left in the Gir, when the Nawab of Junagadh gave complete protection to them.
Unlike the tiger, which prefers dense forests with adequate cover, the lion inhabits the scrub-type deciduous forests. Compared to its African counterpart, the Indian lion has a scantier mane. The lion seldom comes into contact with the tiger which also lives in India, but not in the Gir region as this forest is hotter and more arid than the habitat preferred by the tiger.
In Al-Jaleel (Galilee) there is a hill called Tel el Assad (Lion Hill in Arabic), and there is a village nearby called Deir el Assad (Monastery of the Lion), that may refer to a quite late occurrence of this species. Bie’r Al-Sabe’e (Well of the Lion) is a famous Palestinian city in the Naqab (Negev) desert.
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