The size of the Barbary lion

[Matias]

Ever since I was a kid, I've heard that the biggest lions are in Ngorongoro Crater. Like their neighbors in the Serengeti and Mara, they do not experience cycles of plenty and hunger annually. Having a range of great prey at your disposal without major displacements makes a difference. Under genetic criteria, they are highly inbred and many male specimens have very low spermatic mobility. But nature finds a way to solve problems and produces these fantastic beasts.

Could we imagine such an example walking in the middle Atlas or in the Aurés mountains, occasionally using wild boar, red deer, Hartebest Bubal, barbary sheep and reaching that muscular mass? Ecological aspects and prey biomass make all the difference in the morphological conception of a predator like the lion.

A specimen like that is preparing for battle... not prepared to run after the fast prey existing in North Africa. 

Quote:Conservation? Yes. Example. Sizewise, there isn't much to choose between tigers in Nepal and northern India. In Corbett's day, however, Nepal male tigers had 4-5 inches on male tigers in northern India. In Nepal, tigers were protected. In northern India, they were hunted.  

Fragmented habitats, strong human pressure, low numbers of prey and targeted pursuit by hunters - are stressors that severely impact the physical and physiological condition of the animal. Healthy ecosystems will certainly contribute to the species reaching their maximum body fullness. Tigers that develop a high predation capacity from an early age, with less interval between meals, may be the great specimens we see today. The answer may lie in ecology and not directly in genetics. Protected environment with high density of prey produce the largest specimens. And these specimens leave their legacy, offspring with greater ability to replicate the success of their parents. Am I talking nonsense? Reply