The Influence of Seasonal Weather Conditions at High Latitudes on the Temporal Distribution of Territorial Vocalizations by Captive Asiatic Lions (Panthera leo persica).

Abstract

Territorial advertising in lions involves a suite of behaviors such as patrolling, scent marking, spraying, and vocalizing. In their native tropical habitat, wild lions are primarily nocturnal, capitalizing on cooler temperatures and darkness for effective hunting and minimizing thermoregulation stress. By extension, their territorial behaviors, notably the striking vocal advertising known as "roaring," are predominantly nocturnal. However, atypical diurnal territorial activity has been reported for captive lions in some captive settings, including Fota Wildlife Park (FWP) in Ireland. This study investigates the influence of seasonal weather conditions on the temporal distribution patterns of territorial vocalizations by a pride of captive Asiatic lions living at high latitudes in FWP, where extended audio recordings were regularly made from mid-summer to mid-winter 2021. Consistent with typical behaviors of their wild counterparts in the tropics, the captive lions at FWP exhibited persistent crepuscular peaks of roaring activity throughout the study. However, as the seasons passed, these peaks of roaring activity immediately after sunset and, to a lesser extent, just before dawn clearly followed the substantial seasonal changes in the timing of these two daily synchronizing stimuli at such high latitude. While most roaring activity occurred during the hours of darkness, consistent with prior observations at FWP during the winter, they nevertheless also roared at all hours of the day throughout all seasons, including the summer months. Persistent daytime territorial vocalizations in captive settings are therefore probably more likely related to environmental factors other than cool weather in this temperate captive setting.