The size of the Barbary lion

[Dr Panthera]

I was fortunate enough to live in Morocco between 1978 and 1981 where my father taught at the university and I had the chance to frequently visit the zoos at Ain Diab in Casablanca and Tamara Zoo near Rabat, Ain Diab housed a magnificent male from Atlas origin from his father and Senegalese origin from his mother, he was a large and beautiful lion with clear eyes and a magnificent mane covering most of his under body, if memory still serves me after almost 35 years he was named Sultan.
Tamara zoo housed the descendants of the Atlas caught royal lions of 1941, the last wild caught lions in Morocco , this collection had more males than females as in customary gifts to royalty , and when king Mohamad V died his son King Hassan II moved the lions from the palace menagerie to Rabat zoo where they mated them with west African lionesses ( a lucky choice since these ended up being their closest African relatives ) .
I saw these descendants beautiful lions , great luxurious dark manes extending under the belly, clear iris, large heads, heavy body, but shorter limbs but overall not necessarily larger than other lions ...possibly just Gerard s speculation.
If reintroducing them is attempted a reserved area south of the Atlas Mountains will be ideal , historic prey of wild boar, Barbary stag, Dorcas gazelle,aoudad, and possibly addax and scimitar antelope should be restored to sufficient levels and protected.
Personally I do not think the Moroccan authorities are interested anymore in reintroducing these lions to Morocco . Reply