Heythrop Zoo Lion subspecies I.D please

[Waddi]

Can someone I.D the subspecies of this lion for me please;

Thanks

Lee

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Generic non-subspecific Panthera leo

 

[IanRRobinson]

Agreed. Other than those UK zoos holding pedigree P.l.persica, which I believe comprise London, Chester, Bristol, Paignton, Cotswold, Dudley and Edinburgh, I would take some convincing that any other identifiable Lion subspecies are to be seen.

Having said that, he looks a beautiful animal.

 

[AgileGibbon]

Agreed. Other than those UK zoos holding pedigree P.l.persica, which I believe comprise London, Chester, Bristol, Paignton, Cotswold, Dudley and Edinburgh, I would take some convincing that any other identifiable Lion subspecies are to be seen.

Having said that, he looks a beautiful animal.

All white lions are pure P.l.krugeri I thought?

 

[bongorob]

All white lions are pure P.l.krugeri I thought?

They are, Agile Gibbon.

 

[Waddi]

Thanks, was hoping that he was one of the Barbary that they claim to hold.

 

[Mike11]

African Lion subspecies do tend to be a some-what opinionated matter!

 

[Waddi]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

 

[johnstoni.]

As far as I'm aware, the only places the John Aspinall Foundation has allowed its 'Barbary/Atlas' lions to go is Belfast and a lone male to Longleat. I don't know whether Belfast has sent cubs elsewhere, although I'd be surprised if they did so to Heythrop. It is of course possible that Heythrop could have imported a 'Barbary' animal from a collection outside the UK, although again I highly doubt this.

 

[Waddi]

Official word from Heythrop is He is a Zoo bred African Lion of no particular subspecies, although he does resemble a Cape Lion.

 

[Mike11]

In my opinion...

We still have lions descended from the victorian-1970's era that were bred to look more impressive. Lions that look like this are a mix of all African varieties (which I don't class as hybrids) and were just bred to make the big manes that we see here.