Lions in Central and East Africa

[Pckts]

@sanjay
the real question is this, are they pure bred "barbary lions" ?
To my knowledge, there is no Barbary lion in existance

Take a look at inbred Everland Lions, they have a very similar face to these.


"Several reviews have considered the history of sightings [7], [19], [20], [26], [27] and the IUCN recognizes that lions persisted in Morocco into the 1940s [17]. Nevertheless these reviews have inadvertently missed, ignored or have lacked access to many local sources and literature accounts. A systematic evaluation of the last sightings in the Maghreb will provide more complete insights into persistence of remnant lion populations and the resilience of large mammalian carnivores to human pressure.Several menageries in Europe held Barbary lions in medieval times [9] and they were popular exhibits in public zoological gardens in the 1800s [7], [20]. By the early 1900s zoos and circuses in Europe and North America often promoted their lions as “Barbary” [13], although true representatives were said to be only found in the collection of the Sultan of Morocco, derived from animals caught by local tribes [20]. The significance of this collection was not recognized until the 1970s after the lions were moved from the Royal Palace, Rabat, to a new zoo at Temara when a study identified animals with physical characteristics of the Barbary lion [20]. Despite several attempts, a formal scientific breeding program is yet to be established (Frey pers. comm.). Nevertheless, captive breeding has experienced a recent renaissance [28], [29] and a studbook for these animals (hereafter ‘Moroccan Royal lions’) has been developed [13]."
 "Debate surrounds the authenticity of Moroccan Royal lions as descendants of wild Barbary lions [13]. One concern is that Moroccan Royal lions hybridized with sub-Saharan African lions potentially introduced to the collection before the 1970s [20]. Definitive genetic matches have not yet been established between Moroccan Royal lions and wild Barbary lions [13]. The few studies of Barbary lions that utilize museum samples [14] are limited by the scarcity of wild-origin reference specimens. Most recent genetic studies [30], [31], [32] rely on Royal lion samples from two zoos, covering at most 4 (possibly only 2) of the 12 maternal bloodlines [13]. In the absence of genetic data, owing to the lack of verified wild specimens, and working on the precautionary presumption that Barbary lions are taxonomically distinct from other lions, assessment of purity relies on ‘pedigree information’ which at best can be taken from the recently established studbook of lions of known ancestry arising from the Moroccan Royal Collection [13].The North African-Asian population of lions [14] is only represented by today’s Asiatic lion (c.350 wild individuals and c.100 zoo captives), so the potential significance of captive Moroccan Royal lions (c.90 individuals) is not trivial [13]. In the absence of definitive genetic comparisons we examine the generational separation between lions surveyed in Temara Zoo in 1974 and wild-caught Barbary ancestors. This infers the degree of opportunity for hybridization had non-Barbary individuals bred within the Royal collection, and the potential purity and relevance of the extant captive population."http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0060174

Very interesting read when you get a chance ^^
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