Rare Atlas lion cub celebrated in Morocco as an important moment in conservation

Massa the lioness has good reason to roar at visitors at Rabat National Zoo, as she is the proud mother of a new cub.

The male youngster, known as Azaghar was born on 26 July 2024, a member of the subpopulation known as the Atlas Lion or the Barbary lion, of the subspecies Panthera Leo Leo.

This birth was announced on October 20, 2024 and is considered the first birth of this year.

The cub is the result of a breeding programme which began in 2022.

Azaghar's mother Massa is 13 years old, and his father Layt is 8 years old.

As soon as the cub was born the zoo's veterinary team made sure it had the best care.

"Right after the birth of the Atlas lion cub, Panthera Leo Leo, there are a number of measures that we undertake immediately. The first is the choice of the part of the lion building where the lion cub will be housed with its mother. The second thing is a FLASH veterinary examination that is done quickly to ensure the physical health of the lion cub who is well taken care of by its mother. Afterwards, we await the vaccination to protect against parasites," explains Saad Azizi, head of the veterinary and zoological service, Rabat National Zoo.

The mother and cub were separated from the family group after the birth, so the mother could focus on her new role adds Azizi.

"We have a lot of challenges to overcome. The first challenge is the moment of birth, how to isolate the lion cub with its mother from the rest of the group. Afterwards, we must ensure the maternal care of the mother. This is decisive in the viability of the lion cub. The last step is to reintroduce the mother with her young lion cub with the rest of the group."

The cub, who is now three and a half months old, is free to run around its enclosure with his mother and another lioness, but he has yet to meet his father.

Initially the cub was dependant on his mother's milk for nutrition, but now he is weaned and eating meat explains zoo keeper Walid Zeqaqui.

"The cub depends completely on breastfeeding from its mother, with the provision of food of course, when it feels ready to eat solid food, it gradually switches from relying on milk to eating meat."

Since its opening in 2012, the National Zoological Garden has recorded about 18 lion births, the last one before Azaghar, was in 2022, another male cub named Izem.

The zoo has a large group of 33 Atlas lions (Panthera Leo Leo), 17 males and 16 females, aged between 26 years old and 3 to 4 months.

The lion couples must be selected from unrelated families to avoid inbreeding.

"The birth of the New Atlas Lion is a step forward, towards the conservation not only of the lion, but towards the conservation role of the National Zoological Garden of Rabat, which contains among its numbers a certain number of internationally threatened species" says Azizi.

According to the IUCN Atlas or Barnaby lions appear to have been a distinct subpopulation of lions :

"Before 2017 it was considered a distinct subspecies by some, but that is no longer the case and is now treated as being the same subspecies as found in West Africa across to northeast Africa and across to India – Panthera leo leo.

The Barbary / Atlas Lion subpopulation has not been officially assessed as Extinct in the Wild on the IUCN Red List, although lions are extinct across its range, in all of the north African range from Morocco to Egypt.

There are still Barbary lions in various zoos. The status of the whole of Panthera leo leo subspecies is Not Evaluated, but the Asiatic subpopulation is listed as endangered and the West Africa subpopulation as critically endangered according to Craig Hilton-Taylor, Head of the IUCN Red List Unit in an email to The Associated Press.

The National Zoological Garden of Rabat, has 1800 animals and 80 species.