The Barbary lion also called the Atlas lion was an African lion population native to North Africa. He was living in Atlas Mountains a series of mountain ranges in northwestern Africa , running generally southwest to northeast to form the geologic backbone of the countries of the Maghreb (Tunisia ,Algeria and Morocco ) from the Moroccan port of Agadir in the southwest, to the Tunisian capital Tunis in the northeast , they extend for more than 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometres).
The name Barbary was given to this lion to the honor of Berber poeple also called Amazigh the original people of the Maghreb (Lybia, Tunisia , Algeria , Morocco ) before the arabic occupation of the land , they are now the second major population of Maghreb after the arabic one .
The Barbary lion was long considered one of the biggest lion subspecies. Museum specimens of male Barbary lion were described as having very dark and long-haired manes that extended over the shoulder and to the belly. Head-to-tail length of stuffed males varies from 2.35 to 2.8 m (7 ft 9 in to 9 ft 2 in), and females measure around 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in). A 19th century hunter described a large male allegedly measuring 3.25 m (10.7 ft) including a 75 cm (30 in) long tail. In some historic accounts the weight of wild males was indicated as very heavy and reaching 270 to 300 kilograms (600 to 660 lb). But the accuracy of the measurements may be questionable, and the sample size of captive Barbary lions were too small to conclude they were the biggest lion subspecie
In the 1970s, Barbary lions were assumed to have been extirpated in the wild in the early 20th century.But a comprehensive review of hunting and sighting records indicates that the last Barbary lion was shot in the Moroccan part of the Atlas Mountains in 1942. Barbary lions were sighted in Morocco and Algeria into the 1950s, and small remnant populations may have survived into the early 1960s in remote areas.
The Romans used Barbary lions in the Colluseum to battle with gladiators. In the Middle Ages, the lions kept in the menagerie at the Tower of London were Barbary lions, as shown by DNA testing on two well-preserved skulls excavated at the Tower in 1936-1937. The skulls were radiocarbon -dated to 1280-1385 AD and 1420-1480 AD. The growth of civilizations along the Nile and in the Sinai Peninsula by the beginning of the second millennium BC stopped genetic flow by isolating lion populations. Desertification also prevented the Barbary lions from mixing with lions located further south in the continent
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