If I might add some information if anyone is interested:
The Barbary Lion is considered extinct in the wild with the last recognized reports of a sighting in their habitat from around the 1960’s at the latest.
There are lions in zoos around the world that have some Barbary DNA or are said to be descended from Barbary lions bred with other types of lion.
There are a small number of lions like the “Royal Lions” of Morocco which are said to be “pure” Barbary lions. Kept for over a century and supposedly carefully bred to maintain their lineage.
5 Royal lions have been tested and were found to most likely not be Barbary lions, but it is important to note that testing 5 does not mean there are no “pure blood” Barbary lions among the Royal lions or other lion populations.
It is also important to note it isn’t quite so simple…
… doing these types of tests is expensive and often complicated. We don’t have a population of live wild Barbary to compare against let alone a single specimen. Anatomical and genetic comparison can only come from historical records and some very old samples from museums or collection that kept skeletons or other parts of the animals- and even then the providence of the sample can be questionable. The idea of a “pure” blood line is itself a false concept as well- we can’t say that Barbary lions never bred with other northern or even southern lions even if their habitat made regular interbreeding less likely.
There are certainly lions with Barbary ancestry and DNA in captivity and quite possibly some wild lions are also of mixed ancestry at some point in their lineage.
Wether “pure” Barbary lions exist in captivity or not is a matter of slight open ended ness , but currently the species cannot be said to be extinct in captivity.
The Barbary Lion is considered extinct in the wild with the last recognized reports of a sighting in their habitat from around the 1960’s at the latest.
There are lions in zoos around the world that have some Barbary DNA or are said to be descended from Barbary lions bred with other types of lion.
There are a small number of lions like the “Royal Lions” of Morocco which are said to be “pure” Barbary lions. Kept for over a century and supposedly carefully bred to maintain their lineage.
5 Royal lions have been tested and were found to most likely not be Barbary lions, but it is important to note that testing 5 does not mean there are no “pure blood” Barbary lions among the Royal lions or other lion populations.
It is also important to note it isn’t quite so simple…
There are certainly lions with Barbary ancestry and DNA in captivity and quite possibly some wild lions are also of mixed ancestry at some point in their lineage.
Wether “pure” Barbary lions exist in captivity or not is a matter of slight open ended ness , but currently the species cannot be said to be extinct in captivity.