Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 136, April 2016, pp. 1-35. | Page 9

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captivity. However, stray possible Barbary lion individuals or descendants were
located in zoos and circus populations within the last three decades. It is often
considered to be the largest of the lion subspecies with males weighing between
400-650 lb (181 to 295 kg) and females 270-400 lb (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 (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
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 (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
There are several dozen individuals in captivity believed to be Barbary Lions;
Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in Kent (England) has twelve specimens
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 Ababa zoo, descendants of animals owned by the Ethiopian Emperor
Haile Selassie (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
In the past, scientists believed that the "distinct" sub-specific 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. The cooler ambient temperature in e.g. European and North
American zoos can result in heavy mane. Therefore, the heavy mane is an
inappropriate marker for identifying Barbary lines (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
Mitochondrial DNA research published in 2006 did support the "distinctness" of
the Barbary lion. The results showed an 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 (Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
In 1968, a study on the skulls of the extinct Barbary (North African), extinct Cape,
Asiatic, and 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
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 136 – April 2016