Lions with such smaller manes were also known in … They are hybrids, crosses between Asiatic lions and African lions. Asiatic lions are larger than their African cousins according to the WWF. There are only a few remaining pure-bred Barbary lions and careful management is required to avoid excessive inbreeding. The Asiatic lion can measure up to 9.18 feet. More than 300 hybrid lions housed in zoos and safari parks across India will be prevented from reproducing and allowed to die out over the next few years. An Asiatic lion has a longitudinal fold of skin along its belly that is lacking in African lions. BARBARY LION HYBRIDS. Uncontrolled and unplanned breeding among lions in captivity, practised for decades until the mid-1990s, resulted in the birth of hundreds of hybrid lions in the zoos. The largest African lion ever recorded weighed 800 pounds and measured 11 feet from nose to tail. The manes of most lions in ancient Greece and Asia Minor were also less developed and did not extend to below the belly, sides or ulnas. Against their African sibling, they have a sparse and skimpy mane and sometimes even a little mane-less “bald” area on top of their head. Nearly two dozen crossbred lions are slowly dying in India from a mysterious disease afflicting the hybrid offspring of Asiatic and African cats paired in a discontinued experiment. The country's Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has ordered all establishments holding Asiatic lions which have been mated with African lions to be sterilised so that they become extinct. Pride composition differs between the two types of lions, too. A male African lion weighs between 330pound and 500 pounds, with females averaging about 345 pounds. The African lion can weigh up to 420 lbs. African lions are larger cats, with thicker and longer manes and shorter tail tufts than Asian lions. It is known that hybrids between the Barbary lion and other African lion subspecies are held in zoos. A member of the feline species widely given the epithet, ‘the king of beasts,’ the Asiatic lion, also known as the Asian, Indian and Persian lion, is one of the five big cats found in India, besides the Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, snow leopard and clouded leopard.It is also the only big cat in South Asia, mostly confined to a single area around the Gir National Park in Gujarat. The lions at Chattbir are products of those skewed priorities. African lions are larger than their Asiatic counterparts. They can weigh up to 500 lbs. "The hybridisation between the Asiatic and African lions in zoos and their subsequent inbreeding since the mid-1980s has weakened the bloodline and … In general, the Asiatic lion differs from the African lion by a less developed mane. The zoo, probably the only one in north India to offer a lion safari, has only these lions who have been crossbred from Asiatic and African lions. Asiatic lion vs African lion: Asiatic subspecies are 10-20 percent smaller than the African one. What is the difference between an African Lion and an Asiatic Lion? Their tails can measure up to 35.43 inches. The African Lion (Panthera leo leo) and the Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) are both predatory mammals.The African Lion is native to sub-Saharan Africa and the Asiatic Lion is native only to the Gir Forest in Gujarat in India. Nearly two dozen crossbred lions are slowly dying in India from a mysterious disease afflicting the hybrid offspring of Asiatic and African cats paired in a discontinued experiment.