Cape lion - an extinct representative of the family of large cats?

Once upon a time, and to be more precise, three centuries ago, in the south of the African continent, amazing lions lived. They were noteworthy that the wool cover, that is, the mane, the males covered not only the shoulders, but also the stomach, and the tips of their ears were black. Such handsome people were called Cape lions.

Unfortunately, scientists say that representatives of this breed on Earth can no longer be met, but there are also those who disprove such arguments, showing for everyone not only adults, but also their young. Today, we will open the veil of secrecy, and try to find out together if the Cape lions really exist.

Where did the long-legged handsome live?

To start a conversation about the Cape Lion, first it is worth telling about the habitat of large cats, to which they gave their preference. So, it was proved that this kind of lions chose the South African Republic as the site of its range, or rather the Cape province not far from present-day Cape Town. It's easy to guess why these cats were named that way.

The local climate can be described as dry Mediterranean. Incidentally, in the winter and autumn months, from November to April, the heat of the Cape Lion was incredibly hot (sometimes the temperature rose above 40 ° C), and in summer, on the contrary, the temperature dropped to 20 ° C. It used to be that at night it was only 12 degrees Celsius.

Most likely, such a huge mane in males was the result of temperature fluctuations, more precisely of its spread in different time periods. The climate in those parts is still unchanged, and dark-capped Cape lions are no longer to be found here, unfortunately.

Characteristics of the species

The Cape lion was not only distinguished by its long, mane-grown mane, but also its dark, not characteristic for representatives of these feline, color. And at the head of the animal, he was quite normal, but closer to the shoulders and stomach became darker, smoothly turning into almost black.

Another feature of the Cape Lion was its huge size. These representatives of the cat were considered truly giants: males reached 250, and in rare cases 270 kg, and females could weigh up to 170 kg. Perhaps, this is the most complete description of the Cape lion, from which you can try to make some idea of it.

The irrefutable facts proving the existence of the perfect creation of nature

The irrefutable facts of the existence of a beautiful giant include its mention in the records of historians. By the way, the last of them dates back to 1858 and indicates that the Cape lion has no more left on the planet. The last representative was shot.

Also to the evidence of the existence of lions with a long dark mane, some critics and amateurs of art, ranked him in the famous painting by Rembrandt Hermann van Rijn, now in the Louvre "The Lying Lion". They saw on the famous canvas the resemblance of the depicted character to a real lion, once inhabiting the territory of the Cape, in South Africa.

The Cape Lion, whose photo is presented in the article, was truly magnificent. Its beauty and grace are visible in every line and every curve of the smooth lines of the huge body.

They still survived?

At the very beginning of the 20th century, representatives of one of the Russian zoos said that the descendants of the Cape lion lived and reproduced safely. Then this story had a wide public resonance. There have been controversies, which, incidentally, still have not abated, concerning whether the lions actually represented are the direct descendants of cats in the Cape Province? Despite the fact that the consensus could not be reached, it was decided to send lions from the zoo to their native continent for further distribution and successful breeding. The Cape Lion, according to some modern scientists, was still exterminated by the man himself, and those individuals who remained in captivity can not be purebred for a number of reasons.

Followers of Darwin's teachings say that those lions that had a thick long mane and lived not far from Cape Town, just mutated, dropping unnecessary hair, and are safely residing in South Africa to this day. True, their species are already called in a different way and they look quite differently, otherwise than before.

What to believe, each person chooses for himself, but one is really true: it is worth preserving nature, so that after many years our descendants could enjoy the beauty that is surrounded by us now.