Moroccan efforts to preserve the Atlas Lions for fear of their extinction

Rabat

- The last time the Atlas Lion was seen in nature in Morocco was in the forties of the twentieth century, when a picture was taken of it from a French plane while it was walking alone with its distinctive black fur, amid the snows of the Atlas Mountains, according to the circulating accounts.

In December 2022, the National Institute of Archeology and Heritage in Morocco announced the discovery of skeletal remains of the Atlas Lion within archaeological levels dating back more than 100,000 years.

This discovery was added to other discoveries of bone remains in various locations … all of which tell a story of a roar that extends back thousands of years, and this story is presented for the first time in an exhibition open to the public and specialists in the National Zoo in the capital, Rabat, which embraces and sponsors dozens of lions within the framework of the Atlas Lions Protection Program in country.

Skeletal remains of the Atlas Lion were found in the Ifri al-Baroud Cave in the eastern countryside, 14 thousand years old (Al-Jazeera)

Fossil discoveries

At the entrance to the park, which opened in its modern look 11 years ago, visitors are greeted by a huge model of the Atlas Lion, which is the symbol of the place.

Not far from the entrance, a free space has been allocated for an exhibition on the archaeological finds of this type of lions, which will continue until next April.

The exhibition is the first of its kind in Morocco, as the fossil bone finds belonging to the Atlas Lion were collected in one place, and presented to the public so that they could learn about this rare animal and its history that extends for thousands of years.

Dr. Abdeljalil Bouzoukar, Director of the Institute of Archeology and Heritage in Rabat, indicates that the archaeological remains of the Atlas Lion were found in 7 sites in the Kingdom, which are fossil bone remains dating back to different time periods, which made it possible to trace the history of the ancestors of the Atlas Lions for a period of more than two million years. year.

He explains that, starting from 300-400 thousand years ago, the Atlas Lion, which is close to its current form, was more accurately identified.

Bouzokar led the research team at the site of "Bizmaun" (a Berber phrase meaning "home of the lions") in the Essaouira region, in the center-west of the country, where the archaeological finds of the Atlas Lion were found last month.

These bone remains, dating back about 110,000 years, made it possible to more accurately identify the Atlas Lion, which is close to its current form, according to Bouzoukar.

Prior to that, archaeologists discovered fossilized bones at the Ahl al-Ghulam site in the city of Casablanca, dating back two and a half million years, attributed to the Dinophiles species, which could be an ancestor of the lion.

Other skeletal remains were discovered in several archaeological sites, such as the Rhinoceros Cave (700,000 years old), Mount Igud (300,000 years), the Feline Cave (95,000 years and 115,000 years) and "Ifri n al-Baroud" (a Berber phrase meaning "the Cave of Gunpowder"). ) (14 thousand years) and a cave under the cave (6 thousand and 5 thousand years).

In his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Bouzukar explains that the study of these finds showed that the Atlas Lion has a tremendous ability to adapt to various climatic changes and terrain.

The Atlas Lion in the Rabat National Zoo (Al Jazeera)

extinction from nature

The Atlas Lion was given this name in relation to the Atlas Mountains in which it was endemic, extending from southern Morocco to northern Tunisia.

This animal has an important place in Moroccan culture, as in the past the tribes hunted lions and cubs by virtue of their abundance in many regions and presented them to the sultans as a token of their loyalty.

And the sultans of Morocco, during different historical periods, gave some animals to friendly and allied countries.

In 1235, the Almohad caliph Muhammad al-Nasser donated 3 lions from the Atlas Lion to the Royal Zoo in London, and in 1839 the Alawi Sultan Abd al-Rahman bin Hisham gave a lion and a lioness to the President of the United States of America, Martin Van Buren.

The Atlas lion was subjected to indiscriminate hunting, especially during the period of the French occupation of Morocco (1912-1956), when hunters used to hunt it for its fur and skin and to smuggle it to European countries, until this animal disappeared from the natural environment, and only very limited numbers of it remained in the private zoo. The Royal Palace in Rabat.

The Atlas Lion became part of the emblem of the Kingdom of Morocco, which was adopted in 1957. It consists of a shield and a crown surmounted by a five-pointed star surrounded by two lions.

The Atlas Lion in the Rabat National Zoo (Al Jazeera)

Atlas Lion Protection Program

At the beginning of the 1970s, all the animals of the Royal Garden, including the Atlas Lions, were transferred to the Rabat National Zoo, which has the protection of endangered animal species as one of its main tasks.

The veterinarian in the garden, Zaid al-Din Mahmoud, says that the group that the zoo obtained from the royal palace is divided into two families that bred separately inside the garden, without any of them mixing with any extraneous elements.

Zain El-Din Mahmoud explains, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, that this group currently consists of 32 lions, lionesses and cubs, and it is the largest group of lions embraced by a garden in the world.

Last February, the Rabat Zoo administration presented visitors with 5 cubs of Atlas lions, who were born in the park in 2021. The zoo sponsors these lions according to a protection program based on preserving the health of this type of feline (cat) and managing its breeding grounds.

Regarding health care, Mahmoud says that the lions' handlers watch daily to take care of their food, the cleanliness of their place of residence, and monitor their health, noting that the cubs have been receiving, since their third month, the necessary vaccinations to prevent infectious diseases that affect cats and parasites, and each group undergoes periodic and annual examinations.

He points out that the limited space inside the zoo imposes legalization on the reproduction of lions, and this is done either by isolating males from females, or by hormonal intervention, adding, "We do this in order to maintain a herd of 30 to 40 individuals."

Mahmoud says that the park has partnership programs with international parks, according to which some animal species are sent and received.

He explains, "We send varieties of Atlas lions to other gardens around the world to enrich the offered combination of animals for these gardens, and to preserve this species that characterizes the Kingdom of Morocco and North Africa."