The Cape lion was a lion ''
Panthera leo melanochaita
''Panthera leo melanochaita'' is a lion subspecies in Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. In this part of Africa, lion populations are regionally locally extinct, extinct in Lesotho, Djibouti and Eritrea, and are threatened by loss of habi ...
''
population
Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...
in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
's
Natal and
Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...
s that has been
locally extinct since the mid-19th century.
The
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
originated at the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
and was described in 1842.
The Cape lion was once considered a distinct lion
subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
.
However,
phylogeographic analysis has shown that lion populations in
Southern and
East Africa
East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...
are closely related.
In 2017, the subspecies ''Panthera leo melanochaita'' was recircumscribed to include all lion populations in Southern and East Africa.
Genetic analysis published in 2023 suggests that Cape lions were not particularly distinctive from other Southern African lion populations.
Taxonomy
''Felis (Leo) melanochaita'' was a black-maned lion
specimen
Specimen may refer to:
Science and technology
* Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount
* Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...
from the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
that was described by
Ch. H. Smith in 1842.
[ In the 19th century, naturalists and hunters recognised it as a distinct ]subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
because of this dark mane colour.[ In the 20th century, some authors supported this view of the Cape lion being a distinct subspecies. ]Vratislav Mazák
Vratislav Mazák (; 22 June 1937 – 9 September 1987) was a Czech biologist who specialized in paleoanthropology, mammalogy and taxonomy. He was also a painter, often illustrating his books about animals and men.
Born at Kutná Hora, he was a p ...
hypothesized that it evolved geographically isolated from other populations by the Great Escarpment.[
This theory was questioned in the early 21st century. Genetic exchanges between lion populations in the Cape, ]Kalahari
The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa.
It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...
and Transvaal regions, and farther east are considered having been possible through a corridor between the escarpment and the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
.[ Results of phylogeographic studies support this notion of lions in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa being genetically close.] Based on the analysis of 357 lion samples from 10 countries, it is thought that lions migrated from Southern to East Africa during the Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
and Holocene
The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...
.[ Analysis of 194 lion samples from 22 countries suggest that populations in Southern and East Africa are distinct from populations in ]West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
and Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
.[ In 2017, lion populations in Southern and East Africa were subsumed under ''P. l. melanochaita''.][
]
Zoological specimens
A few natural history museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...
s keep Cape lion specimens in their collections:
*the Transvaal Museum
The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City ...
has a female Cape lion skull;
*the Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center () is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021.
Although its current name and organization are relatively ...
has a mounted specimen and two Cape lion skulls;
*the Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...
and the Paris Museum of Natural History each have a mounted Cape lion;[
*the ]Swedish Museum of Natural History
The Swedish Museum of Natural History (), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg.
The museum was founded in 1819 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, but goes bac ...
has a Cape lion skull, and the Zoological Museum Amsterdam a mounted specimen.[
* Clifton Park Museum in ]Rotherham
Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...
has a stuffed Cape lion.
*the African Museum of Dr. Emil Holub in Holice, Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
has a two-year-old stuffed specimen, bought as a small cub in 1876. It was identified as a Cape lion in 2009.
Characteristics
The type specimen of the Cape lion was described as very large with black-edged ears and a black mane extending beyond the shoulders and under the belly.[ Skulls of two lion specimen in the British Natural History Museum from the Orange River basin were described as a little shorter in the occipital regions than other lions in South Africa and with a tendency to develop the second lower ]premolar
The premolars, also called premolar Tooth (human), teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the Canine tooth, canine and Molar (tooth), molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per dental terminology#Quadrant, quadrant in ...
.[
American ]zoologist
Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
Edmund Heller
Edmund Heller (May 21, 1875 – July 18, 1939) was an American zoologist. He was President of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums for two terms, 1935–1936 and 1937–1938.
Early life
While at Stanford University, he collected specimens in the ...
described the Cape lion's skull as longer than those of equator
The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
ial lions, by at least on average, despite being comparatively narrow. He considered the Cape lion to have been 'distinctly' bigger than other lions in Africa.[Heller, E. (1913)]
''New races of carnivores and baboons from equatorial Africa and Abyssinia''
Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 61(19): 1–12.
Lions approaching were shot south of the Vaal River
The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Oce ...
.[Pease, A. E. (1913)]
''The Book of the Lion''
John Murray, London. 19th century authors claimed that the Cape lion was bigger than the Asiatic lion
The Asiatic lion is a lion population of the subspecies ''Panthera leo leo''. Until the 19th century, it occurred in Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia, and from east of the Indus River in Pakistan to the Bengal region and the Narm ...
.
Results of a long-term study indicate that the colour of lion manes is influenced by climatic variables and varies between individuals. Manes are darker and longer in cool seasons, with a 2023 study finding that the colour of Cape lion manes exhibited the same dark-light colour variation found in other lions and that mane colour was not a distinctive characteristic of this population.
Distribution and habitat
In the early 19th century, lions still occurred in the Karoo
The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...
plains and in the Northern Cape
The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...
. In 1844, lions were sighted south of the Riet River. The last lions south of the Orange River
The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibi ...
were sighted between 1850 and 1858. In the northern Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
, lions may have survived into the 1860s.[
In 2003, six lions from ]Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is a large wildlife reserve and conservation biology, conservation area in southern Africa.
The park straddles the border between South Africa and Botswana and comprises two adjoining national parks:
* Kalahari Gems ...
were relocated to Addo Elephant National Park in the Eastern Cape Province
The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
.
In captivity
In 2000, specimens asserted to be descendants of the Cape lion were found in captivity in Russia, and two of them were brought to South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. South African zoo director John Spence reportedly was long fascinated by stories of these grand lions scaling the walls of Jan van Riebeeck
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.
Life
Early life
Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...
's Fort de Goede Hoop
The Fort of Good Hope ( Dutch: ''Ford de Goede Hoop'') was the first military building to be erected in what is now Cape Town. It was built in 1652, and was in use until 1674 when it was superseded by the Castle of Good Hope.
History
The ...
in the 17th century. He studied van Riebeeck's journals to discern the Cape lion's features, which included a long black mane, black in their ears, and reportedly a larger size. He believed that some Cape lions might have been taken to Europe and interbred with other lions. His 30-year search led to his discovery of black-maned lions with features of the Cape lion at the Novosibirsk Zoo in Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, in 2000. Besides having a black mane, the specimen that attracted Spence had a "wide face and sturdy legs". Novosibirsk Zoo's population, which had 40 cubs over a 30-year period, continues, and Spence, aided by the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, was allowed to bring two cubs back to Tygerberg Zoo. Back in South Africa, Spence explained that he hoped to breed lions that at least looked like Cape lions, and to have DNA testing done to establish whether or not the cubs were descendants of the original Cape lion.[ (with 2-minute video of cubs at zoo with John Spence, 3 sound-bites, and 15 photos)] However, Spence died in 2010 and the zoo closed in 2012, with the lions expected to go to Drakenstein Lion Park.
See also
*Asiatic lion
The Asiatic lion is a lion population of the subspecies ''Panthera leo leo''. Until the 19th century, it occurred in Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, Iran, Mesopotamia, and from east of the Indus River in Pakistan to the Bengal region and the Narm ...
*Barbary lion
The Barbary lion was a population of the lion subspecies '' Panthera leo leo''. It was also called North African lion, Atlas lion, and Egyptian lion. It lived in the mountains and deserts of the Maghreb of North Africa from Morocco to Egypt. It ...
*Wild cats in Africa: African leopard
The African leopard (''Panthera pardus pardus'') is the nominate subspecies of the leopard, native to many countries in Africa. It is widely distributed in most of sub-Saharan Africa, but the historical range has been Habitat fragmentation, fragm ...
African golden cat Caracal
The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...
Serval
The serval (''Leptailurus serval'') is a wild small cat native to Africa. It is widespread in sub-Saharan countries, where it inhabits grasslands, wetlands, moorlands and bamboo thickets. Across its range, it occurs in protected areas, and ...
African wildcat
The African wildcat (''Felis lybica'') is a small wildcat species with sandy grey fur, pale vertical stripes on the sides and around the face. It is native to Africa, West and Central Asia, and is distributed to Rajasthan in India and Xinjiang ...
Sand cat
The sand cat (''Felis margarita'') is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a ...
Cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...
Black-footed cat
The black-footed cat (''Felis nigripes''), also called the small-spotted cat, is the smallest wild cat in Africa, having a head-and-body length of . Despite its name, only the soles of its feet are black or dark brown. With its bold small spots ...
References
External links
Cat Specialist Group: African lion
South Africa: Lion cubs thought to be Cape lions
Ansichtskarte / Postkarte Antwerpen Anvers Flandern, Jardin Zoologique, Lion du Cap
in Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
( Antwerpen)
Cape lion
at Hagenbeck Zoo
{{Taxonbar, from=Q221247
Panthera leo melanochaita
Mammals described in 1842
Extinct mammals of Africa
Extinct carnivorans
Species made extinct by human activities
Mammal extinctions since 1500