Iconic Image 15

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This month's Iconic Image is...

The last Barbary Lion

Intro

This photograph was taken from an airplane high above a rocky cliff face in the year 1925. It depicts a male lion walking alone on the sand parallel to the cliff face. The image would become a symbol of tragic loss and lessons that needed to be learned by humanity.

Part I

The African lion is one of the most iconic animals that lives on the continent of Africa. Although there is only one actual species (Panthera Leo) there were a total of seven different sub-species of lions that inhabited the continent of Africa and also Asia. One of them was the Barbary lion (aka: North African lion or Atlas lion).

The Barbary lion was native to the northern coast of Africa (the Barbary Coast). Its range stretched from Egypt all to way to Northern Mali. It was highly prominent in the countries of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Its main diet included wild boar, Barbary sheep, red deer, and gazelles. A fully grown adult usually measured between seven to eight feet long (males could measure more than nine feet) and weighed more than 600 pounds. The Barbary lion's most notable feature was the male's incredibly long mane. The mane of the male extended from the shoulders all the way to the underbelly and measured between three to eight inches long.

Unfortunately, the Barbary lion's habitat and diet frequently put it in conflict with another species that lived on the Barbary coast: humans. Sometimes, the Barbary lion hunted domesticated cattle and also occasionally attacked humans. Since the times of the Ancient Rome, Barbary lions were often hunted and killed for sport (many of them were used to fight gladiators in the Colosseum). By the 18th century, bounties were being paid for anyone who shot and killed a Barbary lion. This caused the population of lions on the Barbary coast to decline much faster than they could recover.

Part II

The photograph of the Barbary lion taken by a military photographer named, Marcelin Flandrin in the year 1925. Flandrin was flying on the Casablanca-Dakar air route over the Atlas Mountains. As the aircraft he was in passed over a large cliff face, Flandrin noticed something moving down on the sand. He realized to his astonishment, it was a male Barbary lion. By the turn of the 20th century, Barbary lions had become so scarce that nobody had seen one in the wild since the 1890s. Due to the air route of the flight, it is likely that the photograph was taken over the countries of either Morocco or Mali. The lion is casually walking on the sand in complete solitude (its tracks still visible behind it). It is probable that this lion was one of the very last of his kind in the wild. 

Epilogue

This photograph would be the very last to ever be taken that depicts a Barbary lion in the wild. The last recorded shooting of a wild Barbary lion took place in 1942, in the Moroccan part of the Atlas Mountains. And the last known sighting of a Barbary lion in the wild was in the year, 1956 in the Béni Ourtilane District of, Algeria. Since then, there has never been any credible sighting of a Barbary lion in the wild. 

As of today, it is considered extinct in the wild. There are just over 100 subspecies of Barbary lions that are currently living in captivity in zoos. Conservation efforts have been made by scientists to some day reintroduce them to the wild. However, due to their low numbers and probable conflicts with people living in the area, this is unlikely to happen for a very long time.

The image of the last Barbary lion is remembered today as a sad reminder of the tragic loss of an animal species that could have been avoided. It also serves as an inspiration to many conservationists to preserve and protect the environment and the animals that live there. As long as people remember this lesson, other animal species will not suffer the same fate.

https://therevelator.org/barbary-lion-extinct/

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/A-lion-seen-in-the-Atlas-Mountains-during-a-flight-on-the-Casablanca-Dakar-air-route_fig1_236022631

https://www.laprensalatina.com/rabat-zoo-welcomes-five-atlas-lion-cubs-an-endangered-species/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3616087/

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/interviews/wildlife-biodiversity/-barbary-lion-reintroduction-in-north-africa-is-possible-but-needs-long-term-plans--72961