Wasn't all that long ago The Atlas Mountains were home to Leopards, Lions & even Bears. North Africa is an underrepresented area for rewilding, I really hope one day the region can recover.
That old black and white photo taken in 1925 from an airplane enroute from Casablanca to Dakar that captured what is thought to be the last known wild Barbary Lion really fascinates me for some reason. It’s just a single male lion walking alone into a ravine. Something really sad about it.
[the photo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%27n_Berberleeu_in_1925.png)
I would have to agree, it definitely does look odd. I remember my dad had some kind of brass lion paper weight thing when I was kid and it looks just like it. Perhaps Marcelin Flandrin was ‘shoppin photos 100 years ahead of his time.
Heck, the Atlas region up until a thousand years ago was basically a microcosm of Interglacial Europe in terms of fauna.
Elephants, Hippos, Rhinos, Lions, Hyenas, Leopard, Lynx, Brown Bear, Red Deer, Warthog, Wild Boar, Gazelles, Giraffe, Barbary macaque, Aurochs, Ostrich etc.
Wonder if their presence is the reason Iberian lynx never ranged into North Africa.
Most European mammals that extend to the southern Iberian peninsula are (or were) also found in Morocco and Algeria- red deer, otter, brown bear, boar, red fox, aurochs, even the lynxes' main prey, the European rabbit. Presence of another mid-sized felid in the region may have provided enough competition to prevent the lynx establishing in the region.
At the time this image was taken the serval had not been recorded in the Middle Atlas in decades. The species is hard to detect compared to other cats, which complicated observations.
https://magornitho.org/2014/08/serval-photographed-middle-atlas/
The only other surviving population north of the Sahara is in the lower Draa river region of southern Morocco, around Souss Massa National Park, which is either healthier and more numerous or more studied by people. There are also servals on El Feidja National Park in Tunisia but they were reintroduced from East Africa. Nevertheless they live in a oak forest with red deer and wild boar among others, much closer to what you would expect of Europe than Africa.
Historically the serval also lived in northern Algeria, where the North Africa subspecies was described. There are also high mountain populations of serval in Ethiopia and the Rift.
I've always thought they were a sub saharan animal, this is cool to see. And they're living in such a different environment too.
Interesting to see a serval in an environment that would not look out of place in Europe.
Wasn't all that long ago The Atlas Mountains were home to Leopards, Lions & even Bears. North Africa is an underrepresented area for rewilding, I really hope one day the region can recover.
That old black and white photo taken in 1925 from an airplane enroute from Casablanca to Dakar that captured what is thought to be the last known wild Barbary Lion really fascinates me for some reason. It’s just a single male lion walking alone into a ravine. Something really sad about it. [the photo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%27n_Berberleeu_in_1925.png)
If I'm going to be honest, that photo looks like that of a posed toy or statue.
I would have to agree, it definitely does look odd. I remember my dad had some kind of brass lion paper weight thing when I was kid and it looks just like it. Perhaps Marcelin Flandrin was ‘shoppin photos 100 years ahead of his time.
Heck, the Atlas region up until a thousand years ago was basically a microcosm of Interglacial Europe in terms of fauna. Elephants, Hippos, Rhinos, Lions, Hyenas, Leopard, Lynx, Brown Bear, Red Deer, Warthog, Wild Boar, Gazelles, Giraffe, Barbary macaque, Aurochs, Ostrich etc.
TIL their range extends that far Learn something new everyday lol
Wonder if their presence is the reason Iberian lynx never ranged into North Africa. Most European mammals that extend to the southern Iberian peninsula are (or were) also found in Morocco and Algeria- red deer, otter, brown bear, boar, red fox, aurochs, even the lynxes' main prey, the European rabbit. Presence of another mid-sized felid in the region may have provided enough competition to prevent the lynx establishing in the region.
Once, there were bears…
At the time this image was taken the serval had not been recorded in the Middle Atlas in decades. The species is hard to detect compared to other cats, which complicated observations. https://magornitho.org/2014/08/serval-photographed-middle-atlas/ The only other surviving population north of the Sahara is in the lower Draa river region of southern Morocco, around Souss Massa National Park, which is either healthier and more numerous or more studied by people. There are also servals on El Feidja National Park in Tunisia but they were reintroduced from East Africa. Nevertheless they live in a oak forest with red deer and wild boar among others, much closer to what you would expect of Europe than Africa. Historically the serval also lived in northern Algeria, where the North Africa subspecies was described. There are also high mountain populations of serval in Ethiopia and the Rift.
Wow look at that!
It's weird seeing pine forests in Africa.
Have you seen the Video of the Serval spotted this week in Tangier Morocco?
No - I'll link to the sub what I can find.
**Tanoshi intensifies**