Taken by a French aviator in 1925 this is the last known photo of a Barbary Lion. The lion, with an original range including modern Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, was a frequent target of hunters during Roman times, who would capture the beasts for use in amphitheater shows. During the 19th century, the French colonial authorites offered bounties for killing the lions, and the last one in Tunisia was killed in 1891.
Although this is the last photo of the lion, a lioness was reported killed in Algeria in 1942, and there have been claims of sightings as recently as the 1960s in isolated areas of that country and Morocco.
Barbary Lions were up to 9 feet in length and could weigh up to 600 pounds. Below is a 1897 photo of a lion in the Bronx Zoo.
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