About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Barbary lion

Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAR : Barbary lion

The Barbary Lion, Atlas lion or Nubian lion Panthera leo leo is a subspecies of lion that has become extinct at least in the wild." It was believed to be extinct in captivity. However, stray possible Barbary lion individuals or descendents were located in zoos and circus populations within the last three decades. It is the largest of the lion subspecies with males weighing between 400-650lb (181 to 295kg) and females 270-400lbs(120 to 181 kg), approximately the size of Bengal tigers. However, more recent research suggests that they were only slightly larger than today's African lion, which weighs approximately 420 lbs on average. 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.

The mane of "Scar," the villain of Disney's The Lion King, was based on a Barbary Lion.

Contents

Possible surviving individuals

There are several dozen individuals in captivity believed to be Barbary Lions: Port Lympne Wild Animal Park has twelve specimens [link] descended from animals owned by the King of Morocco; one of the lions is named Suliman. In addition, 11 animals believed to be Barbary Lions were found in Addis Addaba zoo, descendants of animals owned by Emperor Haile Selassie.

In the past scientists believed that the "distinct" subspecific status of the Barbary lion could be justified by their seemingly fixed external morphology. This morphology was used to identify them. However, now it is known that various extrinsic factors influence the colour and size of a lion’s mane, like the ambient temperature.[#endnote_West2002] The cooler ambient temperature in e.g. European and North American zoos can result in heavy mane. Therefore, the heave mane is an inappropriate marker for identifying Barbary lines. [#endnote_Yamaguchi2002][#endnote_Barnett2006]

Mitochondrial DNA research published in 2006 did support the "distinctness" of the Barbary lion. The results showed a mtDNA haplotype that is unique to the Barbary lion. This could be a good molecular marker for identifying Barbary lions. They revealed that five tested samples of lions from the famous collection of the King of Morocco are not maternally Barbary. [#endnote_Barnett2006]

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. Dr. Noboyuki Yamaguchi, a scientist from the University of Oxford, has used his own funding for as long as possible to further the scientific research on Barbary Lions and its genetics. The project is now indefinitely on hold until the funds can be raised.[#endnote_Yamaguchi2002]

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 - existed 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.

References

See also

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles
0123456789
ABCDEFGHIJ
KLMNOPQRST
UVWXYZ?

E-mail this article to:

Personal Message: