10 Facts About Barbary lion

Barbary lion, called the North African lion, Berber lion, Atlas lion, and Egyptian lion, is an extinct population of the lion subspecies Panthera leo leo.

Historical sighting and hunting records from the 19th and 20th centuries show that the Barbary lion inhabited Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub.

The westernmost sighting of a Barbary lion reportedly occurred in the Anti-Atlas in western Morocco.

In Libya, the Barbary lion persisted along the coast until the beginning of the 18th century, and was extirpated in Tunisia by 1890.

The Barbary lion disappeared in the Bone region by 1890, in the Khroumire and Souk Ahras regions by 1891, and in Batna Province by 1893.

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The last recorded shooting of a wild Barbary lion took place in 1942 near Tizi n'Tichka in the Moroccan part of the Atlas Mountains.

The size of prides was likely similar to prides living in sub-Saharan habitats, whereas the density of the Barbary lion population is considered to have been lower than in moister habitats.

Nonetheless, genes of the Barbary lion are likely to be present in common European zoo lions, since this was one of the most frequently introduced subspecies.

Barbary lion represented destructive power, but was regarded as protector against famine and disease.

In 2001, the skeleton of a mummified Barbary lion was found in the tomb of Maia in a necropolis dedicated to Tutankhamun at Saqqara.