Re: Lions/Tigers in Sindh
pretty much all languages in asia have words for both lion and tiger, even if not native, lions and tigers are majestic enough to be famous as trophies for kings and folklore since forever. there are no lions anywhere in kerala, our forests are dense rainforests where tigers and leopards thrive, but lions need open grasslands and sparse forests. yet there are like 3-4 words just for lions in malayalam and are often in local fables.
The article I posted above says that last lion of Sindh was killed near Kot Deji, Sindh in 1860s. (Though there are many kuttas claiming themselves Sher e Sindh now, but thats another topic
Now this Kot Deji and Kirthar Range are adjacent areas. Another article says that wild cats (including Leopards) are still found in Kirthar range.
Wild Cats of Pakistan
The Leopards in Pakistan are mainly found in the highlands of Baluchistan and Sind, and the mountain forests of Punjab, N.W.F.P and Azad Kashmir. The leopard is found in the Kirthar Mountain Range of Sind and the Toba Kakar, the Mekran and the Sulaiman Range of Baluchistan. In the northern mountanious region it is found in the Murree Hills, Swat Kohistan, Dir, Chitral, Abbotabad and Lower Gilgit. It is also found in the Kaghan valley and the Margalla Hills. In Azad Kaashmir it is found around the hill ranges of Muzaffarabad and the Neelum Valley. Its survival in the Salt Range in Punjab is not clear, though they still do exist in very small numbers. The leopard sparsely inhabits the Kala Chita hills as well.
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