The size of the Barbary lion

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(06-12-2019, 01:35 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: A "very large" lion from the Barbary region was said to have been presented to King Frederick I of Sweden in the 18th century, who then pitted it in a fight against a bear held by butchers in Stockholm: https://books.google.com/books?id=Io5NAA...on&f=false

That  is a famous lion, but not for killing a bear :) 

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Quote:
"An unforgettable lion

Today, the castle draws large numbers of visitors who come to admire the grand rooms, to experience a sense of history and to see the large collection of portraits. Perhaps one of the castle's main attractions is the stuffed lion from the 18th century. Its present-day popularity is due to the fact that the taxidermist tasked with stuffing the lion's body had probably never seen a living lion, resulting in a stuffed lion that looks rather different to the lions we are used to seeing. Once you have seen it, you are unlikely to forget it."

Source: https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english/articles-and-movies/news/2019-02-05-gripsholm-castle-a-history.html

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It is also in facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lejonetpagripsholmsslott/

I have no idea if there has been a fight or not, but I haven´t seen such mentioned in any Swedish articles etc. There have been some animal fights arranged at times of Queen Christina and King Charles X Gustav of Sweden, but I haven´t seen anything concerning King Frederick I. Maybe that story in the book is some mix up etc. It would be interesting to find other sources too, because that description is odd looking. Killing a bear with one swipe, that would be something. If true, that lion was as lucky as a lottery winner :)

But if that really is only source, then I have some doubts, because about other fights can be found some information from Swedish historian sources, not about this. Reply