The Barbary lion (Panthera leo leo) was a local group of lions which are now extinct in the wild {IUCN}. The Barbary lion was also called the Atlas lion and the Nubian lion. It was a local group, or perhaps subspecies, of the lion. It used to live in North Africa, from Morocco to Egypt including countries like Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
Looks and behavior
The Barbary lion was large and heavy. Males weighed about 272 to 317.5 kilograms (600 to 700 lb), and females weighed about 227 to 272 kilograms (500 to 600 lb) though not fully proven they were confirmed weigh in the same range as a Siberian Tiger. Male lions were said to be about 2.43 to 3.35 metres (8 ft 0 in to 11 ft 0 in) long and females were about 2.13 to 3.04 metres (7 ft 0 in to 10 ft 0 in) long. [1]Some scientists think that these sizes and weights are too large and put estimates between 227 to 272 kilograms (500-600 lbs) There are also scientists who think that the Barbary lion is probably the size of the lions found in East Africa.[2]Whereas, others thought it was around the size of an Asiatic lion which are 175 kilograms (385 lbs)
The places where the Barbary lion lived did not have a lot of prey. These lions did not live in prides because of this.[3][4] The main animals they hunted in the Atlas Mountains were the Barbary stag, buffalo and gazelle forcing some lions to move more south where more food was available. The lions also ate cows and sheep raised by people.[5]
These lions lived alone, or in pairs. The female Barbary lion raised her cubs until they were mature. This took about two years. After that, the cubs left their mother.[5]
Sources
