While this image might be sensitive to some, here is a lion protecting a buffalo kill from hyenas and other animals in Gir National Park, Gujarat, India.
Lion Protecting a Kill
Tag Archives: India
Lioness in Profile
Lionesses are the primary hunters of the pride. They are smaller and more agile than males and they use teamwork to bring an animal down. After a successful hunt, all the lions in the pride share the meal. But there is a pecking order, with the adult males eating first, followed by the lionesses and finally the cubs.
A lioness strolling at Gir National Park, Gujarat, India.
Barasingha
The Barasingha, also known as the swamp deer, is a deer species distributed in the Indian subcontinent. It is a deer species with conspicuously large antlers. Overall, this mammal has as much as 12 antlers. In fact, the name of this species has Hindi origin and means ’12-antlered deer’. Unfortunately, Barasingha is nowadays among the most vulnerable deer species not only in the Indian Peninsula, but also throughout the world. The remaining small population of this species inhabits protected sanctuaries of India.
Here is a young Barasingha with damaged skin in Gir National Park.
Lion Portraits
Closeup, using a zoom lens from far, of a lion in Gir National Park, Gujarat, India – in natural color and monochrome version.
Young Lion Focused
A young male lion focuses on something of interest at Gir National Park, Gujarat, India. Young males are chased out of pride when they are around two years of age and start being sexually mature. These bewildered male lions then head out alone into the wild, getting injured while hunting, falling victim to alpha males in the jungle, or getting caught in snares if they mistakenly venture near the villages along the forest.
Lioness of Gir
Lionesses outnumber males by a substantial margin, despite a near 50% male/female birth ratio. This is probably due to the tendency of males to be nomads, take on more dangerous game, and be killed in pride takeover attempts. Lionesses are loving mothers who demonstrate communal care of cubs, with lactating mothers allowing any cub to suckle. Females employ a cooperative model of child-rearing, with one female staying behind to watch over the cubs while the other females hunt.
Here is a lioness strolling around in Gir National Park, Gujarat, India.
Early Morning Sunrise at Gir
Another early morning at Gir National Park, Gujarat, India, with serenity at the reservoir and a glorious sunrise. Off to see more animals.
Birds in Gir
While lions are the main attraction in Gir National Park, India, there are also a lot of birds. Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher is an attractive medium-sized flycatcher with blue upperparts and orange-and-white underparts, with the most orange on the chest and the throat. Spotted Dove is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent.
Chitals in Gir
The chital or cheetal, also known as the spotted deer, chital deer, and axis deer, is a deer species native to the Indian subcontinent. While males weigh 150–200 lb., females weigh around 88–132 lb. Males are larger than females, and antlers are present only on males.They are quite abundant in Gir National Park, India.
Marking His Territory
Here is a male lion marking his territory in Gir National Park, India. They mark the area with urine, roar menacingly to warn intruders, and chase off animals that encroach on their turf.
Male Asiatic Lion
The Asiatic lion, a subspecies that split from African lions around 100,000 years ago, once prowled across Asia and the Middle East. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujarat. Asiatic lions are slightly smaller than African lions. Male lions are not as sociable as females, joining the pride mainly for mating and on a large kill. Although hunting takes cooperation, adult males don’t tend to take part in it.
Young Lions
A young lion cub watches with curiosity while a juvenile one walks through the forest of Gir National Park, Gujarat, India.
Strolling Lion
The discernible difference between Asiatic Lions and their African cousins is the shorter and sparser mane in male lions. Asiatic Lions also have a longitudinal fold of skin running along the abdomen, rarely seen in African lions. Here is an Asiatic lion strolling in Gir National Park, Gujarat, India
Seeking Lions
Gir National Park in India is the only natural habitat of world popular Asiatic Lions. When one visits Gir, the primary objective, waking up at dawn, is to see lions while riding in open, utility vehicles. If lucky, you can even spot a lion walking along the road, but it seems these tourists are looking in another direction.
Visiting Gir National Park
Gir Forest National Park is a wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat, western India. It was established to protect Asiatic lions. Gir National Park is the only place in the world outside Africa where a lion can be seen in its natural habitat. The lions of Gir are a majestic animal, averaging 2.75 meters in length, and with a bigger tail tassel, bushier elbow tuffs and prominent belly folds than his African cousin which has larger mane. Gir is a home to 40 species of mammals and 425 species of birds.
We went on four safaris at Gir using open air utility vehicles. Here is a composite of the entrances to the park and two vehicles following a lion walking on the forest road.
Somnath Temple Lighted Up
The Somnath temple in Gujarat, India is lighted up at night with multiple color themes and is a major attraction for tourists and worshippers.
Somnath Temple Spire
The Somnath temple was reconstructed several times in the past after repeated destruction by multiple Muslim invaders and rulers over India.
The present temple is a Māru-Gurjara architecture (also called Chaulukya or Solanki style) temple. It has a “Kailash Mahameru Prasad” form. The architect of the new Somnath temple was Prabhashankarbhai Oghadbhai Sompura, who worked on recovering and integrating the old recoverable parts with the new design in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The new Somnath temple is intricately carved, two level temple with pillared mandapa and 212 relief panels.
The temple’s śikhara, or main spire, is 15 metres (49 ft) in height above the sanctum, and it has an 8.2-metre-tall flag pole at the top.
Shree Somnath Jyotirlinga Temple
The intricately carved honey-colored (further accentuated at sunset) Somnath temple on the western edge of Gujarat is believed to be the place where the first of the twelve holy jyotirlingas emerged in India – a spot where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light. The temples lies at the meeting of Kapila, Hiran and Sarasvati rivers and the waves of the Arabian Sea ebb and flow touching the shore on which it is constructed. The ancient temple’s timeline can be traced from 649 BC but is believed to be older than that. The present form was reconstructed in 1951.
The setting sun transforms the temple sign, in Hindi script, painted with Indian flag colors by casting a golden glow.
Somnath Temple, Gujarat
The Somnath temple is a Hindu temple located in Gujarat, India. It is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Hindus and is believed to be first among the twelve jyotirlinga shrines of Shiva. We visited the temple at sunset and the golden glow of the sun’s rays is evidenced in all images.
Photography is not allowed on the temple site so we had to access a walkway along the ocean to capture the images.
Farewell Hyderabad
After attending a spectacular Indian wedding, we left Hyderabad with a beautiful sunset to continue our journey in India.
Photos by Ravi 