Barbary Lion
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? Barbary Lion Conservation status: Extinct in the wild
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Trinomial name
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| Panthera leo leo ( Linnaeus, 1758) |
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The Barbary Lion Panthera leo leo is a subspecies of lion. It is extinct in the wild and was believed to be extinct in captivity until stray individuals were located in circus populations within the last three decades. It is the largest of the lion subspecies with males weighing between 500-600 lb (230 to 270 kg) and females 300-350 lb (140 to 160 kg). The Barbary Lion, also called the Atlas or Nubian lion, formerly ranged in the Atlas Mountains of north Africa and in territory from Morocco to Egypt. The last known Barbary Lion in the wild was shot in the Atlas Mountains in 1922.
Unlike most African lions, the Barbary Lion was a mountain predator, preferring woodlands. The two other primary Atlas Mountain predators, the Barbary leopard and Atlas bear, are also now extinct, with no known individuals in the wild. There are several dozen individuals in captivity believed to be Barbary Lions: Port Lympyne wild animal park has twelve specimens [1] descended from animals owned by the King of Morocco. In addition, 11 animals believed to be Barbary Lions were found in Addis Addaba zoo, descendants of animals owned by Emperor Hailie Selassie.
Barbary Lions are most distinctly characterized by a thick black mane on the male that reaches along the stomach to the loins.
"Scar," the villain of Disney's The Lion King, was based on a Barbary Lion.
The Barbary Lion Project
The former popularity of the Barbary Lion as a zoo animal provides the only hope to ever see it again in the wild in North Africa. After years of research into the science of the Barbary Lion and stories of surviving examples, WildLink International, in collaboration with Oxford University, launched their ambitious International Barbary Lion Project. They are using the very latest DNA techniques to identify the DNA 'fingerprint' of the Barbary Lion subspecies. WildLink International has taken bone samples from remains of Barbary Lions in Museums across Europe, like those in Brussels, Paris, Turin and others. These samples are returned to Oxford University where the science team is extracting the DNA sequence that identifies the Barbary as a separate subspecies. Although the Barbary is officially extinct, WildLink International had identified a handful of lions in captivity around the world that are descended from the original Barbary Lion, like the royal lions in Temara Zoo in Rabat, Morocco. These descendants will be tested against the DNA fingerprint and the degree of any hybridisation (from crossbreeding) can then be determined. The best candidates will then enter a selective breeding programme that will 'breed back' the Barbary Lion. The final phase of the project will see the lions released into a National Park in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. WildLink International can not be reached anymore and their website is nowadays offline. Everyone is in the dark as to what happened to WildLink International. WildLink International and the University of Oxford had made the deal that WildLink International would raise money for the project and that the university would do the research. With the disappearance of WildLink International no money was raised.
Asian Relative
In 1968, a study on the skulls of the Barbary, extinct Cape, Asiatic, and other African lions showed that the same skull characteristics - the very narrow postorbital bar - extisted in only the Barbary and the Asiatic lion skulls. This shows that there may have been a close relationship between the lions from Northernmost Africa and Asia. It is also believed that the South European lion that became extinct at the beginning in A.D. 80-100, could have represented the connecting link between the North African and Asiatic lions. It is believed that Barbary lions possess the same belly fold (hidden under all that mane) that appears in the Asian lions today.