In many paintings, animals often appear as representatives of the image of the state. For example, the bald sea eagle representing the United States, the dragon representing China, the bear representing Russia, etc., and the most classic image of which may need to be counted as the British lion.
From the coat of arms of the Lionheart king in the medieval period, to the empire that never sets on the world overlooking the world as a lion, to today's three lions army galloping green. Male lions have always accompanied the British people with their brave and majestic image, and their statues still guard London's Trafalgar Square. Although the image of the lion can be seen everywhere in the United Kingdom, in history, Britain, even the Western European countries that are keen to use the lion as their own image, have not had a distribution of lions.
Lions in Western Europe are not indigenous, but exist as a cultural symbol | biodiversity heritage library / flickr
Only a small part of southern Europe had a natural distribution of Greek lions (also known as European lions), but this subspecies disappeared early on in the expansion of the Romans. So like the Chinese dragon, British lion culture is more of a beautiful imagination.
Interestingly, although there is no distribution of lions, intact lion skulls have indeed been found in the United Kingdom. In 1937, British workers found the skulls of two male lions in the moat of the Tower of London, and it was learned through carbon dating that the two male lions lived between 1280 and 1385. Where did these lions come from? How did he die in England?
The two lions were popular "imports" at the time, two from the extinct subspecies of lions in North Africa, the Barbary lion. On the skulls of the two lions, scientists also found a large number of deformities, which were caused by long-term malnutrition. As the illness grew, the lions eventually collapsed paralyzed and blinded by deformities, and eventually their bodies were abandoned in the moat.
Barbary Lion Skull at the Museum of Nature, London | thomas quine / wikimedia commons
As a former Royal Zoo, the Tower of London once housed many exotic animals such as lions, but it was also used to hold prisoners during turbulent times, and perhaps the two lions were unfortunately in a period of lack of care. As pets of the British royal family, rulers wanted to demonstrate their status and authority by conquering lions. At that time, every visitor to the royal family had to gaze into the eyes of a lion. It was not until 1835 that the Tower of London ceased to raise animals, and in order to give them a better living environment, the lions were moved to London Zoo.
Lions in London Zoo | biodiversity heritage library / flickr
However, raising lions was not exclusive to the British royal family, as early as the Roman Empire bc, there were a large number of captive lions, and later the sultans who ruled North Africa also took pleasure in lions. Although the identities of the owners are different, most of the lions they raise come from a subspecies, the Barbary lion.
The preference of successive rulers for the Barbary lion was inextricably linked to its habits and superior appearance, and the Barbary lion seemed to prefer to fight alone rather than in large groups than other subspecies of lions. The captive Barbary lion is not very large, but has a very thick and powerful mane, thick mane makes its head look unusually large, dark hair can even extend all the way to the abdomen, which is also its most prominent feature. In addition, the barbaric lion's limbs are shorter and more powerful, so it is loved by the rulers.
The mane on the side of the Barbary lion forms a "small skirt" | biodiversity heritage library / flickr
In 1758, when Linnaeus, the originator of taxonomy, named the lion by two names, it was the Barbary lion as a model specimen, and the Barbary lion panthera leo became the most representative nominate subspecies among many lion subspecies.
Although some texts also refer to the Barbary lion as a North African lion because of its distribution, or as an Atlas lion in connection with mythological gods because of its majestic physique, the name Barbary lion is the most widely circulated, perhaps related to early Christians.
The Barbary lion gets its name from the Barbary Coast, which was the European name for the Maghreb from the 16th to the 19th century, the central and western coastal regions of North Africa, corresponding to today's Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, which also happen to be the main distribution areas of the Barbary lion.
The lion was both a symbol of strength and a | of oppression and terror for ancient humans biodiversity heritage library / flickr
The name Barbary Coast is derived from the Berbers, the indigenous people of North Africa. As early as 4000 BC, the north African region of the abnormally high temperature, reduced precipitation, the scope of desertification continues to expand, the threat of the Sahara Desert, so that animals and plants and humans began to migrate to the Nile River, the Nile River became the Egyptian and Barbary lions at that time common refuge, and also derived the culture of the sphinx.
In 1897, the Barbary Lion, kept at the New York Zoo, | wikimedia commons
In 1000 BC, the farmers established their villages in eastern North Africa and continued their conflict with barbaric lions and humans over habitat. The Barbary Coast then became a base harbor for pirates, who attacked ships in the Mediterranean and North Atlantic, and took large numbers of residents from Europe for the slave trade, including large numbers of early Christians. Many slaves were fed to lions by cruel slave traders, and the prestige of the Barbary lion was spread among surviving Christians.
Peter Paul Rubens' painting Daniel in the Lion's Den | gandalf's gallery / flickr
As the only "enemy of mankind", the barbaric lion brought terror to mankind long before. After Hoho finished the Greek lion in southern Europe, the once dominant Roman Empire began to set its sights on North Africa.
The Roman nobles retained their interest in the bloody entertainment of the barbaric period, and in 80 BC established the grand Colosseum of Flavian (Colosseum) on the banks of the Tiber River, where the gladiators began their first bloody battle with the Barbary lions from North Africa, and in the next five or six hundred years, thousands of Barbary lions were captured from North Africa and continuously imported into the Colosseum for the fanatical nobles to watch the cruel games, and the population of the "enemy of mankind" Barbary lions began its decline.
Around the seventh century AD, the Arabs entered North Africa and also brought large-scale grazing. The docile flock was clearly more favored by the Barbary lions than the alert gazelles, and the conflict between the Barbary lions and humans has since intensified. Although the Arabs put lions into their motto (a flock led by a lion is better than a flock led by a sheep), the sultans regarded lions as pets and pests, offering bounties and hunting.
Picture of a lion attacking a domestic animal | biodiversity heritage library / flickr
Large-scale uncontrolled grazing has further exacerbated desertification in North Africa, further shrinking the habitat of the Barbary lion and gradually disappearing in most areas. In 1700, the Barbary Lion withdrew completely from northwestern Libya. In Tunisia and Algeria, where there are surviving lion populations, Turkish merchants who have a special love for male lion furs have made lion hunting activities in both countries prosperous.
As a secondary territory of the Roman Empire, European countries led by the United Kingdom have adopted lion hunting as a fashion, believing that it is a symbol of courage and status, and the major zoos and circuses in Europe have barbaric lions as the standard. Under constant squeezing, plundering and hunting, the last Barbary lion in the wild was shot in the Moroccan wilderness by French hunters in 1922, and there has been no more news of barbary lions since then.
There are still a small number of Barbary lion genes remaining in the zoo | michael j. litzinger / wikimedia commons
Although thought to have gone extinct in the wild in 1925, the Barbary lion has not really gone away, but has hidden in genetic fragments of its descendants. In many zoos in Morocco and Europe, hybrid descendants with barbaric lion blood have been discovered and a "pedigree purification" program has begun. To this day, the situation of large carnivores such as lions and tigers is not optimistic, and even some subspecies are only seen in zoos, which is inseparable from the expansion of humans. I hope that in the future, I can still hear the roar of these majestic and mighty big cats galloping through the mountains and forest fields, after all, the wilderness is their destination.
This article is from the species calendar, welcome to forward
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