Search Extinct Animals
Search Extinct Animals
The lion is one of the most majestic beasts to have ever walked the planet, capturing people’s imaginations worldwide. Unfortunately, this has also caused many problems for this big cat, as these attributes have led to it being hunted by humans for various reasons. Combined with other factors like changing environments, several lions eventually went extinct.
| Lion | Characteristics | Where Did It Live? | Why Did It Go Extinct? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbary Lion ( Panthera leo leo) | 1. Large size and dark manes (though these features have been exaggerated over time) 2. Though it lived in Africa, it was physically similar to the Asiatic Lion 3. Primarily hunted the Barbary Stag and different species of gazelle, but would attack livestock if food was scarce, leading to conflict with humans | The Maghreb region of North Africa (from Morocco to Egypt) | Hunting by humans, especially after bombs and firearms spread in the region |
| American Cave Lion (Panthera atrox) | 1. 25% larger than the modern lion 2. Hunted and fed on ungulates like pronghorns 3. They lived in open areas like savannas and grasslands | North America during the Pleistocene epoch (approximately from 340,000 to 12,800 years ago) | Hunting by humans |
| Cape Lion (Panthera leo melanochaita) | 1. Dark mane and black-edged ears 2. They attacked and brought down large ungulates like antelopes and buffaloes but came into conflict with humans for attacking livestock like donkeys | South Africa, most notably the Karoo Plains and the Northern Cape. The last known specimen was killed in 1858 | Overhunting and loss of habitat as a byproduct of the arrival of European colonizers |
| Mosbach Lion (Panthera fossilis) | 1. Larger than modern lions and potentially one of the largest members of the genus Panthera | Eurasia, from the Middle to Early Pleistocene (2.5 to 0.7 million years ago) | Competition from other predators like cave bears, cave hyenas, and saber-tooth tigers over a limited diet and an inability to adapt to changes in their environment |
| Cave Lion (Panthera spelaea) | 1. Smaller than other extinct lion species but still considered larger than the modern lion 2. Male lions did not appear to have large manes like their modern counterparts 3. Adapted to living in colder environments, like mammoth steppe and boreal forests 4. Primarily targeted reindeer, but also hunted aurochs, giant deer, steppe bison and even juvenile woolly rhinos and mammoths | Western Europe to North America about 13,000 years ago | Inability to cope with its environment changing from open areas to places with shrubs and trees |
| Sri Lanka Lion (Panthera leo sinhaleyus) | 1. May have been longer than the modern lion 2. Little else is known about this prehistoric big cat | Sri Lanka, about 37,000 years ago | Unclear |
While the lion is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN, their overall population continues to decline, with those living in Asia limited to the Gir National Park in India and the African population dropping drastically, where the number of lions left between 16,500 and 47,000.