A comprehensive review of hunting and sighting records revealed that small groups of lions may have survived in Algeria until the early 1960s, and in Morocco until the mid-1960s.

Captive Barbary lions were much smaller but kept under such poor conditions that they might not have attained their full potential size and weight.

[6] Mane development varies with age and between individuals from different regions, and is therefore not a sufficient characteristic for subspecific identification.

The presence of this haplotype is considered a reliable molecular marker to identify captive Barbary lions.

[8] Barbary lions may have developed long-haired manes, because of lower temperatures in the Atlas Mountains than in other African regions, particularly in winter.

One of the African samples was a vertebra from the National Museum of Natural History (France) that originated in the Nubian part of Sudan.

Results provided evidence for the hypothesis that this group developed in East Africa, and about 118,000 years ago traveled north and west in the first wave of lion expansion.

[26] Genome-wide data of a wild-born historical lion specimen from Sudan clustered with P. l. leo in mtDNA-based phylogenies, but with a high affinity to P. l.

[20] Historical sighting and hunting records from the 19th and 20th centuries show that the Barbary lion survived in Algeria until the early 1960s, and in Morocco until the mid-1960s.

[29] In Algeria, the Barbary lion was sighted in the forested hills and mountains between Ouarsenis in the west to the Chelif River plains in the north and the Pic de Taza in the east.

[34] The last recorded shooting of a wild Barbary lion took place in 1942 near Tizi n'Tichka in the Moroccan part of the Atlas Mountains.

[29] Historical accounts indicate that in Egypt, lions occurred in the Sinai Peninsula, along the Nile, in the Eastern and Western Deserts, in the region of Wadi El Natrun and along the maritime coast of the Mediterranean.

[36] The growth of civilizations along the Nile and in the Sinai Peninsula by the beginning of the second millennium BC and desertification contributed to isolating lion populations in North Africa.

[29] When Barbary stag (Cervus elaphus barbarus) and gazelles became scarce in the Atlas Mountains, lions preyed on herds of livestock that were carefully tended.

[6] Several researchers and zoos supported the development of a studbook of lions directly descended from the King of Morocco's collection.

With their dark, brown manes extending through the front legs, they looked like Barbary or Cape lions.

[45] Statues and statuettes of lions found at Hierakonpolis and Koptos in Upper Egypt date to the Early Dynastic Period.

Lion-headed figures and amulets were excavated in tombs in the Aegean islands of Crete, Euboea, Rhodes, Paros and Chios.

[49] The remains of seven mostly subadult lions were excavated at the necropolis Umm El Qa'ab in a tomb of Hor-Aha, dated to the 31st century BC.

Nubian deities, such as Amun, Amesemi, Apedemak, Arensnuphis, Hathor, Bastet, Dedun, Mehit, Menhit, and Sebiumeker, were depicted as lion protectors in Kushite religion.

[53] In Roman North Africa, lions were regularly captured by experienced hunters for venatio spectacles in amphitheatres.