Once upon a time, or more precisely, three centuries ago, amazing lions lived in the south of the African continent. They were notable for the fact that the mantle, that is, the mane, in males covered not only the shoulders, but also the stomach, and the tips of their ears were black in color. Such handsome men were called cape lions.
Unfortunately, scientists argue that representatives of this breed on Earth can no longer be found, however, there are those who refute such arguments, demonstrating for all to see not only adults, but also their cubs. Today, we will unveil the veil of secrecy, and try to find out together whether the Cape Lions actually exist.
Where did the long-maned beauties live?
To start the conversation about the Cape lion, you first need to tell about the habitat of large cats, to which they gave their preference. So, it was proved that this species of lions chose the Republic of South Africa as the place of its range , more precisely, the Cape Province, not far from present 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 Cape Lion inhabited an incredible heat (sometimes the temperature rose above 40 ° C), and in the summer, on the contrary, the temperature dropped to 20 ° C. It happened that at night it was only 12 degrees Celsius.
Most likely, such a huge mane in males was the result of temperature fluctuations, or rather, its dispersion in different time periods. The climate in those parts still remains unchanged, and the dark-maned Cape lions can no longer be found here, unfortunately.
View characteristic
The Cape Lion was distinguished not only by a long mane that had grown to the abdomen, but also by its dark color, not characteristic of the representatives of these cats. Moreover, at the head of the animal it was quite ordinary, but closer to the shoulders and stomach it became darker, gradually turning into almost black.
Another feature of the Cape Lion was its huge size. These feline representatives 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.
Irrefutable facts proving the existence of a 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 from 1858 and indicates that the individuals of the Cape lion no longer remain on the planet. The last representative was shot dead.
Also to the evidence of the existence of lions with a long dark mane, some critics and art lovers ranked his image on the famous painting by Rembrandt Hermens van Rijn, which is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, "Lying Lion." They saw on the famous canvas the resemblance of the character depicted with a real lion, who once lived on 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 bend of the smooth lines of a huge building.
Did they survive?
At the very beginning of the 20th century, representatives of one of the Russian zoos declared that their descendants of the Cape Lion live and breed safely. Then this story had a wide public resonance. There have been disputes, which, incidentally, have still not calmed down as to whether the lions presented are actually direct descendants of cats in the Cape Province? Despite the fact that it was not possible to reach a consensus, it was decided to send the lions from the zoo to their native continent for further distribution and successful breeding. The Cape Lion, according to some modern scientists, was nevertheless exterminated by man himself, and those individuals who remained in captivity cannot be purebred for a number of explainable reasons.
Followers of Darwin’s teachings say that those lions that had a thick long mane and lived near Cape Town just mutated, dropping unnecessary hair, and still live safely in South Africa today. True, their species are already called differently and they look quite differently than before.
What to believe, each person chooses for himself, but one thing is really true: it is worth protecting nature so that after a huge number of years our descendants can enjoy the beauty that we are surrounded now.