Where did Barbary lions historically live?

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-22T00:00:00CST" >Nov 22, 2024</time> </span> </div></div> <div class="mt-20"> <div class="collection-content topic-paragraph"> <article class="content"><div class="font-serif"><p>Barbary lions once inhabited large areas of North Africa鈥檚 Maghreb region between the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Sahara-desert-Africa" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sahara</a> desert and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mediterranean-Sea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Mediterranean Sea</a>, from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Atlas-Mountains" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Atlas Mountains</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Morocco" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Morocco</a> east to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Egypt</a>. These lions were separated from those of sub-Saharan Africa and Asia by the vast Sahara, which became too difficult to traverse in recent millennia.</p></div></article></div> </div> <div class="related-questions mb-30"> <h4 class="mb-15">Related Questions</h4> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li class=""> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/What-were-Barbary-lions-known-for"> What were Barbary lions known for? </a> </li> <li class=""> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/Where-can-descendants-of-Barbary-lions-be-found-today"> Where can descendants of Barbary lions be found today? </a> </li> <li class=""> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/How-are-mammals-distinct-from-other-animals">How are mammals distinct from other animals?</a> </li> <li class=""> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/Why-is-the-platypus-a-mammal">Why is the platypus a mammal?</a> </li> <li class="d-none"> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/What-are-the-basic-functional-systems-of-animals">What are the basic functional systems of animals?</a> </li> <li class="d-none"> <a class="p-15 mb-10 rounded text-black font-weight-semi-bold d-block" href="/question/What-is-a-pride-of-lions">What is a pride of lions?</a> </li> </ul> <button class="top-questions-show-more-btn mt-15 d-flex align-items-center align-self-start justify-content-center btn btn-white font-14 d-inline"> <span class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_more"></span> Show More </button> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"TopicTopQuestionsPage","templateName":"TOP_QUESTION","pageNumber":1,"pagesTotal":6,"pageId":null,"pageLength":null,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-top-questions-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"B","adLeg":"B","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"TopicTopQuestionsPage","pageSubtype":"TOP_QUESTION","articleTemplateType":null,"gisted":false,"pageNumber":1,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Where did Barbary lions historically live? | Britannica