A group of lions at the Addis Ababa Zoo in Ethiopia have dark manes that cover their chest and belly. (Photo: Livescience.com)
Holeta – Ethiopia’s black-maned lions once represented a former emperor, “Lion of Judah” Haile Selassie, and were immortalised in a song by reggae legend Bob Marley. Today, they struggle for survival.
A booming human population, widespread habitat destruction and growing livestock numbers mean the animal that once graced Ethiopia’s flag, and is still a potent symbol for Rastafarians through the song ‘Iron Lion Zion’ is on the wane.
They live on in only small pockets of the Horn of Africa nation, and conservationists warn that without action, all that will remain of the powerful creatures are the stone sculptures and statues dotted in the flourishing capital, Addis Ababa.
“There were lions everywhere in Ethiopia, but their habitat is shrinking,” said Zelealem Tefera, country head of the Born Free Foundation, a conservation group.
“Human settlements are expanding, prey is disappearing and there is nothing to eat for the lions,” he said.
In decline across Africa, lions have been put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s “red list” of threatened species, but Ethiopia’s rare lions, seen as unique though debate continues over their DNA are even more vulnerable.
Read more at News24: Ethiopia’s ‘Iron Lion Zion’ cats fading fast »
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