Zamba

Zamba

Panthera leo leo

If the lion is the King of the Beasts then the Barbary Lion was the King of Kings.

A full-grown male Barbary lion is larger than the more common Sub-Saharan Lion,

and can weigh over 600 pounds (272 kg). Barbaries, also known as Nubian lions,

used to prowl widely in North Africa, which was then forested terrain.

The Romans used Barbary lions in their gladiator contests. In Aesop’s fables,

it would have been a Barbary lion that spared Androcles in the arena,

out of gratitude to the Greek slave who earlier removed a thorn from his paw.

In Ethiopia, the Emperor Haile Selassie tethered Barbary lions near his throne.

A Barbary was used as a model for the bronze lions seen today in London’s Trafalgar Square.

Most recently, the menacing Scar in Disney’s “Lion King” was patterned on a Barbary Lion.

Although the Barbary Lion has been classified as extinct since the 1920’s,

a handful of lions in captivity around the world that are descended from the original

Barbary are being studied for possible breeding and reintroduction.

Zamba is a retired Movie Star. He was the MGM Lion as well as having been in movies,

television specials and commercials. You may have seen him in NBC’s Noah’s Ark

or in the “Right Guard” commercial featuring Bret Farve.