African lion (Panthera leo), 2019-10-04

Unusually black mane, stunning.

Very nice photo.

@DelacoursLangur @Terry Thomas Thank you for your nice comments, they are appreciated.

@KevinB Any idea if its a certain subspecies or bloodline? The mane is unusually dark and impressive.

@DelacoursLangur No, there was nothing indicated on signage and Zootierliste lists them as Panthera leo, non-subspecies specific. However Zootierliste does also say the male came from Israel, but I'm not sure that would mean anything.

@KevinB Hmm that is interesting, Israel has alot of unique bloodlines particularly for african species so Il see if I cant do some digging, they have worked to reintroduce alot of the species hunted to extinction. I believe they provided the majority of the founding population of Somali Wild Ass's, they got them out by bribing local warlords and used a military plane packed with refugees to airlift them out. They were originally thought to be the donkey species mentioned in the Torah, but they later settled on Onager (weirdly they introduced some khulan genetics, Im really curious why) and the Somali were sent to European zoos. They have also reintroduced NA Ostrich and Arabian Oryx, im not sure about the bloodlines. There has also be genetic exchanges the other direction to support reintroduction efforts. There are now hundreds of Persian Fallow Deer roaming in Israel founded primarily by a small number flown out on the last Israeli flight from Tehran before the revolution, these were all female If I remember correctly and they were paired with a few males from European zoos. Europe also provided founding stock for an ongoing Mule Deer reintroduction effort. Israels efforts to restore long lost wildlife is a fascinating case study If you have time to research it, Im planning on visiting this year and am going to try and get involved!