Gareth Patterson
The Mail & Guardian last week published a story about 11 lions in a forgotten Ethiopian zoo that experts believe may be related to either of two extinct African subspecies — the Cape lion of Southern Africa or the Barbary lion of North Africa.
The lions are descendants of a group kept by Emperor Hailie Selassie at the royal palace in Addis before he was toppled in a 1974 coup.
I have recently viewed footage of the lions — one of the males has a magnificent black mane that falls over his shoulders and runs the full length of his belly. It is no wonder that historically, and still today, the lion is such a symbol of nobility, courage and power.
It is probable that the Addis Ababa lions are “mix- bred”, and DNA analysis will determine whether they originated from the South African Cape lion or the Barbary lion.
I believe that even if it is determined that the Addis lions are a mixed breed, a breeding or rehabilitation project should be initiated and, depending on the lions’ predominant origins (Cape or Barbary), their future offspring should be reintroduced either into a Cape reserve or, if Barbary, into a North African reserve.
The lion generally has lost so much of its past historical range. Colonists exterminated the last of the Cape lions in the 1830s and the Barbary lion was dead in the wilds by the 1920s. Unless a species is alive in the wild, and the population part of the natural order, its important role is lost; a vital link in the natural chain absent.
Despite criticism from some scientists, I believe that both George Adamson and I have proved that captive-bred and human-reared lions can be successfully returned to the wilds, to live out their lives as any other wild lion.
Captive breeding of endangered carnivores is but part of the process and should be coupled with insight into the animals’ psychology and emotional needs, to allow full integration back into the wilds.
On the dark side, I hold great fears for the Addis lions. My fears are due to a bloodthirsty and money- grabbing side to conservation in South Africa, one aspect being the “canned” lion-hunting industry, the murder of captive-bred lions for profit.
Ironically today, with South African lions in the wild having such a marginal distribution compared to the past, lions are bred in substantial numbers in fenced Lowveld game farms and elsewhere.
These lions are exploited in the most sordid way, and either shot by big-paying clients or bred for future “stock” to be shot later. Just imagine what a trophy hunter would pay a lion breeder in the Lowveld to shoot a magnificently maned male lion like the one in the Addis zoo. A Cape or Barbary lion trophy would elicit great excitement in some.
We must remain vigilant that this scenario does not transpire (and we should lobby against the present practice of breeding lions specifically to be hunted).
Any rehabilitation project should, I feel, continue to have an Ethiopian core. People there have maintained the Addis lions’ survival through devastating famine and government coups. The Ethiopians have a historical cultural affiliation to the lion. Selassie’s dynasty called itself the Lions of Ethiopia. A large, natural-habitat breeding sanctuary could replace the bars and concrete, and important funding and tangible benefits could be injected into the community through the project. The return to the wild of a subspecies presently extinct in those very same wilds today surely deserves substantial donor support.
Such a breeding project of black-maned lions has been done before. I have seen similar lions before, at John Aspinall’s wildlife park, Port Lympne, in England. It was there in 1980 that a breeding programme of the North African Barbary lions was initiated. The breeding group originated from Rabat Zoo and was made up of lions which once formed part of the private palace collection of the present King of Morocco’s late father, HRH Mohammed V.
Gareth Patterson is the author of five books on lions, including Last of the Free, and its sequel, With My Soul amongst Lions