Barbary Lion
July 16, 2007
The Barbary Lion, Panthera leo leo, also known as the Atlas Lion or Nubian Lion, is an extinct subspecies of lion. It was believed to also be extinct in captivity. However, possible individuals or descendants have been located in zoos and circus populations within the last 3 decades. The last known Barbary Lion in the wild was shot in the Atlas Mountains in 1922. Their range extended from Morocco to Libya and throughout Egypt in North Africa.
It is considered to be one of the largest of the lion subspecies of its time. Males weighed between 400 – 650 lbs And females 270 – 400 lbs. Today however, research shows that the modern African lion is only slightly smaller weighing an average of 420 lbs.