Dr Simon Black was interviewed for the latest episode of the ‘Cats of the Wild’, a popular podcast series that has been featuring heavily on Apple Podcasts this year. The podcast aims to highlight the threats to big cats and smaller wild felines and to showcase some of the work conducted worldwide which is enabling conservation of these iconic and important species.
In the latest episode ‘The Barbary Lion’, Simon is interviewed about the history, ecology, and conservation status of lions in North Africa and lessons learned for current lion conservation. Lions have been extinct in North Africa since the mid 20th century but some animals in zoo collections have ancestry going back to the original menagerie of the Sultans of Morocco.
This means that there may be animals in zoos today that are descendants of the same lion subspecies which fought in the Roman gladiatorial games at the Colosseum or guarded the Lion Gate of the Tower of London in medieval England. Dr Black outlines his research with various international colleagues including his University of Kent colleague Dr David Roberts of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology.
For those interested in the history of species decline and the hope that still shines for restoring landscapes, ecosystems and species, including the contribution of current zoo collections, the story of the Barbary Lion provides a fascinating brief insight into unusual research which provides real and practical insights for wildlife conservation.
Lions are under significant threat worldwide, and few people might realise there has been nearly a 50% decline in lions in the past 20 years alone. The stronghold of lions remains in Eastern and Southern Africa which is the home of the southern subspecies of lion (Panthera leo melanochaita), but surviving populations in West and Central Africa – the northern lion subspecies (Panthera leo leo) have declined to an alarming degree, and are under severe threat, with some isolated groups in several countries dwindling to just 5 or 10 animals.
Sixty years ago, the same was true in North Africa, since lions had suffered centuries of persecution and loss of habitat due to deforestation and agricultural demands from human communities. Dr Black’s research seeks to understand lion declines in North Africa and inform quicker responses to protect the remaining lion populations in West and Central African regions.
Today, the northern subspecies of lion (P leo leo) is reduced to as few as 2000 animals in the wild, dotted around India, West Africa and Central Africa, with the connecting North African and Middle Eastern ‘sister’ populations of the sub-species already extinct. Intriguingly there are some animals in zoos that may be descended from North African animals which had survived in the wilds of Morocco and Algeria until the mid 20th Century.
In the podcast, Dr Black discusses the history of the original wild Barbary lions of North Africa and its home between the Atlas Mountains north of the Sahara and the coastal forests, plains and marshes adjacent to the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts.
He discussed the potential for future conservation effort for all lions in the hope that further declines in Africa can be stemmed, rather than mirror the previous loss of the species from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Dr Black’s work has encouraged zoos to collaboratively manage lions of known Moroccan ancestry in captivity, and these animals may one day enable practical new initiatives involving lions as part of wider conservation of the remaining wild landscapes of North Africa.
A range of short articles are available on Simon’s Kent blog, Barbary Lion: Science and History of the North African Lion
Listen to the podcast on Spotify, Vurbl or Apple Podcasts