The snowlion is the largest of all the wild Scanderan cats and it is one of the large predators in the scandera that inhabits the northern iceplains, the vedian mountains and sydvedian in Imeriata and Pohjoismaa. It is a known symbol of bravery and courage in Scanderan heraldry.

Etymology

snow lion
	File:White-Lion-Wallpapers-Hd.jpg
	A pride of snow lions in summer.
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Felidae
Genus:	Panthera
Species:	P.Leo Scandera
Binomial name
	Panthera Leo Scandera; Hylfred Görenssen, 1801
	File:Lionhabitat.png
	Dark brown: Habitat.

The name of the snow lion comes from its thick white pelt that it contrary to most animals in Scandera wears all the year rather than just during the winter. The Imerian term "Sna lejon" did in turn evolve from the urmål term "snar leirdyr" which translated directly into "snow lionbeast".

History

Historically so have lions been seen as great animals, courageous, wild and ferocious, all seen as very positive aspects by Scanderans and several noble houses had the lion as their heraldric sign just as several ships were decorated to look like lions and during the battle between Sverker rex Stjärnkhrone I and Tavast rex Öaherre I that made the Öaherre from Jarnarna able to take over the Imerian crown for 28 years so were Tavast's own personal ship decorated with a lion.

According to tradition so does the commander of the first army also wear a lion pelt as a cloak, a tradition that pre-dates even the first army as it became common after the Imerian migration for commanders to wear lion pelt cloaks. Oddly enough so are the snow lion not mentioned in the first edition of Hylfred's "di marklevande raserna" while they did appear in the third edition.

There are two stories about this, the first one that Hylfred supported to his own death was that he simply were not happy with the information he had gathered and that he wanted to research the story about a old Scanderan people in the norhtern iceplains that supposedly rode into battle on chariots drawn by lions rather than horsewolves as was the norm and actually study a captured lion.

The second story is that he simply forgot about them while the third story says that he actually dismissed them as a myth, evidence that supports this theory is that he mentions myths about ghost like creatures with the shape of a large cat that shepherds claimed that they had defend their herds from. Göran auf Borgnafe, the head of the royal science academy, also supported this theory as he mentioned in his memoirs that Hylfred had chuckled at the idea more than once. However due to the feud and the fact that the two constantly classed heads and did things just to spite one another combined with the uncertainty if they actually considered one another friends, enemies or scientific equals makes it unclear if one should trust Görans recollection of events.

What is however known is that Göran offered a massive reward for a live snow lion that he according to folklore let smuggle into Hylfreds bedroom without him knowing about it.

Taxonomy

Originally so were the snow lion not part of the "Di marklevande arterna" however so did hylfrid mention ghostlike creatures in the vedian mountains, however it is unsure if this was a ghost in local folklore or actually the big cats. What however is sure is that they were officially documented and added to his third edition of his book where they got the scientific name "Panthera Leo Scandera" or the scanderan lion.

Anatomy and health

File:Lionsize.png

Size compared to a human

The Scanderan lion is a large beast and without a doubt the largest of all Scanderan cats at their two meters. More than the slight difference in height so are Scanderan lions also white compared to the normal golden colour most lions share. A third difference is the thicker and more wool like fur that the Scanderan lion is equipped with to deal with the cold climate. Further more so does the Scanderan lion have somewhat proportionally longer claws to enable it to get a better grip over frozen ground when running.

Reproduction

Contrary to most lions so does the Scanderan lion have a mating period in the end of autumn where the alphamale in a pride mates with his females to allow them to give birth in the beginning of spring. The females then search up a secluded cave where they give birth and where they stay for about six month until they search up their pride with their cubs.

Diet

The snow lion is as other lions carnivorous and it hunts large animals that makes their home in Scandera and for instance so are whalebirds, myskoxs, bisons, elks, deers, boars, mammoths, rhinos, smaller cats, walruses, seals, Rabbucks, Shagrats and geese. However so have they also been known to prey on and to eat sentient humanoids.

Behaviour

The snow lion is a highly territorial and aggressive animal that lives in large prides of up to 30 individuals which consists of cubs of both sexes, related females and finally one or two males that leads the pack. Another group organisation that one can find are nomad lions where one or two lonely lions travels the countryside looking for food or a pride to join or to take over.

While the lion is a fearsome and dangerous predator that easily can hunt humans as prey so does it spend most of it's days asleep and it is often only up 4 hours of the day around dawn when the females of the pack hunts.