Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 136, April 2016, pp. 1-35. | Page 8

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Asiatic Lions in Europe:
The Asiatic lion used to live also in Europe. Aristotle and Herodotus wrote that
lions were found in the Balkans in the middle of the first millennium B.C. When
Xerxes advanced through Macedon in 480 B.C., several of his baggage camels
were killed by lions. Lions are believed to have died out within the borders of
present-day Greece in A.D. 80-100. And also there was a population in the
Caucasus that became extinct in the 10th century. It remained widespread
elsewhere until the mid 1800‟s when the advent of firearms led to its extinction
over large areas (Guggisberg, 1961). By the late 1800s the lion had disappeared
from Turkey (Üstay, 1990).

A Replica Painting of “Louis Moullin” (1817-1876) seen in the Emirates Mall, Dubai in
July 2006, which shows Arabian lion hunters killing two Arabian lions and taking the
two cups. Photo by Prof. Dr. Norman Ali Khalaf-von Jaffa. 21 July 2006.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15422903697/

North African relative (The Barbary or Atlas 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
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 136 – April 2016