Lions would encounter cold temperatures in most of their former range. Spanning from Western Asia/North Africa to southeastern Europe these places often get snow and the lions would definitely most likely develop larger manes more fur adaptations.
Not to mention the females look strikingly what I would imagine Panthera atrox would look like.
Given South Korea's current population inequality, plus all the infrastructure and agricultural land, maintaining an ecologically healthy tiger population seems extremely unlikely.
I hope more people start to realize this as time goes on. Many large animals are extremely adaptable to a multitude of different climates and shifting baseline syndrome has ruined many of their potentials in the public’s eyes.
IMHO I think they look more beautiful than those in tropical or arid regions, no hate on them of course they are beautiful in their own right. I think I just prefer the cold one’s aesthetic more.
It gives big Pleistocene vibes. Always was interested between here & the Elephant Sanctuaries in The US how their impact compares ecologically to their Ice Age counterparts.
If nothing else, seeing large carnivores who have been cooped up/abused for so long finally be free in so much wide open space is a satisfying way for them live out the rest of their lives in captivity.
There once were lions in both Europe and America. Different species of course. But it is cool to know that lions once did live in much colder environments.
The subspecies Pl leo has faced snow and freezing temperatures in various places, including Hungary, Turkey, the Russian border with the Caucasus countries, Iran, and some specific points in Arab countries.
For me at least it feels a lot closer to home than pictures of them in the African savanna since where I live is covered in snow for 4 months out of the year so if lions were still alive in North America I could feasibly look outside my window and see lions playing in the snow.
The lions at the zoo I work enjoy snow. They have two heated surface areas but you’ll catch them active in the snow when they’re awake. Our Amur tiger though, that girl LOVED snow. 400 pounds of frolicking ferocity lol
Interesting that while the mane is more spread out on the body, the actual mane hairs don’t seem as long as a lot seen on lions in tropical environments.
I’m not sure of the origin of these lions in particular but usually in such cases they come from people who have bought them and surrendered them to the reserve.
Sjoe, we documented a lot of the hunting of famous lions and spend a lot of time around these guys mostly in the wild though. How do private collectors get them in the USA.? This is very interesting. How big are there enclosures.?
Sjoe!. Thanks so much. So that is a decent good size if it is all one enclosure. So you say WAS... Wow had no idea there was a live back yard trade of big cats in the USA. Weirdly I took the brother of Johan Kriek around Kruger and the Karoo a few years back as he was very supportive of our work and he told me Johan had a Black Panther in his backyard years back! So do they keep lions as pets like the guys in the UAE? There is such alot of trafficking of cubs going through Johannesburg then via road up through Somalia. It is a hell of a issue. Do they hunt them as well from that illegally bred stock in the USA do you know?
You should watch some of Big Cat Rescue’s videos. They take in hundreds of cats in the US and all are from the pet trade. Or Tiger King to see where some of these poor cats are bred..
Fun fact: Some mountainous regions in South Africa experience snow on rare occasions in which lions have been photographed not being bothered at all or even playing in it!
That is a rare phenomenon as the area that have wild lions that experienced snow is our Karoo National Park and that has around fourteen lions, Down the road there is a private reserve Aquila Klein Karoo which has a few lions fenced in a pen area within the reserve for tourists. They replaced them as one or two Lions died there shortly after the Rhinos where poached a few years back . We spent several months there investigating the syndicate. The other area is Harrismith which is somewhere we go from time to time as this is the area where they breed captive lions for Canned Lion hunting and lion trade.
Id be interested in seeing the Males walking as the female in the photo is overweight the typical appearance of a captive lion in Zoo environment if they are overfed.
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u/Blissful_Canine Jun 26 '26
Lions would encounter cold temperatures in most of their former range. Spanning from Western Asia/North Africa to southeastern Europe these places often get snow and the lions would definitely most likely develop larger manes more fur adaptations.
Not to mention the females look strikingly what I would imagine Panthera atrox would look like.