European Lion
Panthera leo leo
🦁
Chordata
Mammalia
Carnivora
Feloidea
Felidae
Panthera
Panthera leo leo
The Last Lions of Europe, Panthera leo leo, once roamed the woodlands and grasslands of southern Europe and the Balkans during the Holocene. These were true lions—close kin to today’s African and Asiatic lions—that returned north after the last Ice Age, reclaiming territory their Ice Age cousins, the cave lions, had vacated millennia earlier.
Description
After the Pleistocene extinctions, lions recolonized southern Europe from North Africa and the Near East. Fossil and historical records show that they thrived in open forests and savannas across Greece, the Balkans, and parts of the Caucasus. These lions were the same species as those now in Africa—sleek, social, and powerful—but adapted to cooler, temperate conditions. Their presence influenced Greek mythology and culture profoundly; the famed Nemean Lion of legend may have been inspired by living animals seen by early storytellers.
Quick Facts
Max Mass
Shoulder Height
Standing Height
Length
Diet
Trophic Level
200
1.2
1.8
2.5
kg
m
m
m
Hypercarnivore
Obligate Proteivore
Hunt History
Humans and lions shared an uneasy coexistence. Bronze Age and Classical societies hunted lions both for protection and prestige. The animals preyed on livestock, drawing the ire of herders, and by the time of Alexander the Great, lion hunts were a royal and military spectacle. Greek and Macedonian rulers organized lion hunts to demonstrate valor, a tradition later echoed in Roman arenas. As agricultural expansion pushed into their habitats, lions were gradually exterminated in Europe, lingering longest in Thrace and northern Greece.
Archaeological Evidence:
Mycenae, Greece (~1600 BCE): Lion bones found in grave circles and depictions on the Lion Gate relief.
Amphipolis, Macedonia (~400 BCE): Artistic carvings and bones showing local lion presence.
Thrace, northern Greece (~100 BCE): Last recorded natural populations of lions before their disappearance from Europe.
Time & Range
Extinction Status
Regionally Extinct
Extinction Date
Temporal Range
Region
10000
BP
Late Pleistocene
Europe
Wiki Link
Fat Analysis
Fatness Profile:
Low
Fat %
3
Est. Renderable Fat
6
kg
Targeted Organs
Marrow, brain (low overall fat)
Adipose Depots
Minimal subcutaneous; marrow/brain
Preferred Cuts
Marrow
Hunt Difficulty (x/5)
4