Rabat Zoo ( ar, حَدِيْقَة ٱلْحَيْوَانَات بِٱلرِّبَاط, Ḥadīqat al-Ḥaywānāt bir-Ribāṭ ("Zoological Garden in Rabat"), ("The National Park for Animals in Rabat"); french: Jardin Zoologique de Rabat), also known as "
Temara Zoo", is a
zoological park
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...
near
Rabat in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
that was established in 1973. The first enclosures were built to house
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
s that were previously kept in the royal palace.
These lions were thought to be descendants from
Barbary lion
The Barbary lion, also called the North African lion, Berber lion, Atlas lion, and Egyptian lion, is an extinct population of the lion subspecies ''Panthera leo leo''. It lived in the mountains and deserts of the Barbary Coast of North Africa, f ...
s.
Conservation for the lion
Given that the Barbary lion is
extinct in the wilderness, importance has been given to finding possible Barbary lions or descendants of the Barbary lion in
captivity
Captivity, or being held captive, is a state wherein humans or other animals are confined to a particular space and prevented from leaving or moving freely. An example in humans is imprisonment. Prisoners of war are usually held in captivity by a ...
. So far, tests indicate the lions of the zoo are not pure Barbary lions, but descendants of the original Barbary lion.
This is partly as members of the
Moroccan royal family
The Alawi dynasty ( ar, سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, translit=sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning d ...
had kept lions that were captured from the
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...
.
Gallery
File:A goat, Rabat- Morocco.jpg, Goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of ...
File:Scimitar oryx, Rabat Zoo.jpg, Scimitar oryx
The scimitar oryx (''Oryx dammah''), also known as the scimitar-horned oryx and the Sahara oryx, is a '' Oryx'' species that was once widespread across North Africa. In 2000, it was declared extinct in the wild on the IUCN Red List.
A captive b ...
File:Zoo rabat.jpg, Giraffe
The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, '' Giraffa cameloparda ...
s
File:Rhinoceros in the zoo of Rabat, Morocco.jpg, White rhinoceros
The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists ...
File:Arctictis binturong 13.jpg, Binturong
The binturong (''Arctictis binturong'') (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining po ...
s
See also
*
Addis Ababa Zoo
*
Drakenstein Lion Park
Drakenstein Lion Park is a zoological park in Drakenstein, Western Cape, South Africa. It was established in 1998 to keep lions which could not be rehabilitated into the wilderness, and was meant to replace the now-defunct Tygerberg Zoo, whic ...
*
Parc Sindibad, Casablanca
References
External links
Zoo Rabat, capital of MoroccoYouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
Moroccan zoo is home to last of Atlas lions(allegedly)
Parc Zoologique National ( Temara - Rabat ) - (2/2) الحديقة الوطنية للحيوانات(in Arabic
Rabat
Zoos in Morocco
{{Zoo-stub