Barbary Lion and Makkah Royal Clock Tower

Barbary Lion : Extinct in the Wild  

Makkah Royal Clock Tower : 601m, Mecca, Saudi Arabia 

 

 

 

Barbary Lion and Makkah Royal Clock Tower_76x57cm_watercolor on paper_2014

 

 

The Barbary lion, also known as the Atlas lion and the Nubian lion, inhabited mountainous areas of North Africa. The Barbary lion was the biggest and the most beautiful of all lions and was described as having a very dark and long mane that extended over the shoulder and under the belly. The Romans pitted the Barbary lion against gladiators in battle in the Colosseum, and thousands of these lions were slaughtered over six hundred years, which resulted in a sharp decline in its population. In the early 18th century, Barbary lions lived in isolation in the Atlas Mountains and Northwest Africa.  The remaining Barbary lions were completely extirpated in the wild due to excessive hunting by Europeans guided by local guides. Massive deforestation and expanded human settlement in what was once habitats of the lion served to accelerate the extinction of the species.  The last Barbary lion discovered in the wild was shot in Morocco in 1942.