Czech zoo welcomes 4 rare Barbary lion cubs whose population is extinct in the wild
The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvůr Králové Safari Park on Wednesday, enjoying themselves under the watchful eyes of their parents, Khalila and Bart.
That will change soon. As part of an international endangered species program that coordinates efforts for their survival in captivity, the cubs will be sent to other participating parks, including the Beersheba zoo in Israel.
5 The three females and one male were seen playing in their outdoor enclosure at Dvůr Králové Safari Park on Wednesday.
AP
Chances are that might not be the end of the story for the animal.
Dvůr Králové Deputy Director Jaroslav Hyjánek said that while preliminary steps have been taken for a possible reintroduction of the Barbary lion into its natural habitat, it's still a 'far distant future.'
The majestic member of the Northern lion subspecies, the Barbary lion once roamed freely its native northern Africa, including the Atlas Mountains.
A symbol of strength, they were almost completely wiped out due to human activities. Many were killed by gladiators in Roman times, while overhunting and a loss of habitat contributed to their extinction later.
The last known photo of a wild lion was taken in 1925, while the last individual was killed in 1942.
It's believed the last small populations went extinct in the wild in the middle of the 1960s.
5 The cubs will be sent to other participating parks, including the Beersheba zoo in Israel.
AP
5 The majestic member of the Northern lion subspecies, the Barbary lion once roamed freely its native northern Africa.
AP
Fewer than 200 Barbary lions are currently estimated to live in captivity
Hyjánek said that after initial talks with Moroccan authorities, who have not rejected the idea of their reintroduction, a conference of experts has been planned to take place in Morocco late this year or early 2026 to decide whether it would make sense to go ahead with such a plan in one of the national parks in the Atlas Mountains.
Any reintroduction would face numerous bureaucratic and other obstacles. Since the lion has not been present in the environment for such a long time, the plans would have to ensure their protection, a sufficient prey population and cooperation and approval from local communities.
5 Fewer than 200 Barbary lions are currently estimated to live in captivity.
AP
5 It's believed the last small populations went extinct in the wild in the middle of the 1960s.
AP
Hyjánek said such a move is still worth trying if it turns out to be sustainable.
'It's important to have such a vision for any animal, ' he said. 'Without it, the existence of zoos wouldn't make sense.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Summer's best meteor shower peaks soon. But the moon will interfere with viewing the Perseids
WASHINGTON (AP) — Summer's most dazzling meteor shower, the Perseids, peaks soon. This year, a bright moon will dampen viewing at the time of peak early Wednesday morning, so some experts recommend waiting a week or so to glimpse shooting stars against a darker sky. The Perseids "are an incredible meteor shower,' said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, planetarium program coordinator at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota. Under dark skies with no moon, the Perseids can produce between 60 to 100 meteors per hour, he said. Since the moon will be around 84% full during the peak, skywatchers might expect between 10 to 20 meteors per hour, according to the American Meteor Society. 'This year I'm actually recommending that people go out a little bit later" — a week or so past the peak when the moon will not be as bright, LaCoursiere said. Viewing of the Perseids lasts until August 23. What is a meteor shower? As the Earth orbits the sun, several times a year it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids. The source of the Perseids is debris from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. When these fast-moving space rocks enter Earth's atmosphere, the debris encounters new resistance from the air and becomes very hot, eventually burning up. Sometimes the surrounding air glows briefly, leaving behind a fiery tail — the end of a 'shooting star.' You don't need special equipment to see the various meteor showers that flash across annually, just a spot away from city lights. How to view a meteor shower The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early predawn hours when the moon is low in the sky. Competing sources of light — such as a bright moon or artificial glow — are the main obstacles to a clear view of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest are optimal viewing opportunities. And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren't checking your phone. When is the next meteor shower? The next major meteor shower, the Orionids, peaks in late October. ___
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
In disaster-prone Vanuatu, photos show sea animals returning to battered reefs. Can recovery happen?
OFF THE COAST OF EFATE ISLAND, Vanuatu (AP) — Beneath the turquoise waters of Vanuatu, amid a graveyard of broken coral, a moray eel peers from the branches of a staghorn colony. Nearby, the feathered arms of a yellow sea lily sway in the current and a turtle grazes on algae growing along the reef. These flickers of life hint at a slow but hopeful recovery. For the past decade, the South Pacific island nation's coral reefs have faced one punishing blow after another. Cyclone Pam in 2015 hit from a direction that left one reef particularly exposed. 'The way the waves came in actually smashed the coral,' said John Warmington, a longtime resident of Vanuatu who's been diving the reef for more than 10 years. 'I can remember our first dive after the cyclone and my friends and I were all in shock. Coral heads turned over, smashed staghorns — all laid bare.' In the days that followed, heavy rains washed sediment into rivers that emptied into the sea, blanketing corals in a thick debris that blocked the sunlight they need to survive. Other threats followed. Crown-of-thorns starfish — natural coral predators whose populations can surge after heavy rains wash nutrients into the sea — swept in to devour what remained. Though native to the region, they can multiply into outbreaks that decimate hard corals, especially vulnerable species like staghorns and plate corals. In 2023, two cyclones struck within days of each other, flattening swaths of reef that had just begun to regrow. And in December 2024, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake shook the seafloor. 'The whole reef slid down into the deep like an underwater landslide,' Warmington said. 'We just saw heartbreak.' Vanuatu, which is home to about 300,000 people spread across 83 islands, is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Here, rising seas and saltwater intrusion are reshaping coastlines and disrupting daily life. Since 1993, sea levels around Vanuatu's shores have risen by about 6 millimeters (.24 inches) per year — significantly faster than the global average — and in some places, tectonic shifts have doubled that pace. Despite all the disaster and hardships, some shallows are bouncing back. Clownfish take refuge inside anemones. Schools of silver mono fish flicker in the sun. A kaleidoscope of hard and soft corals have begun to root themselves to the reef once again. Still, in one of the world's most disaster-prone regions, that recovery remains fragile. 'We're seeing new corals coming through, but do they get a chance to actually grow before another insult comes and damages them?' said Christina Shaw, CEO of the Vanuatu Environmental Science Society, a local NGO. 'Whether that's overfishing, crown-of-thorns, man-made pollution, or increased runoff from natural disasters — the insults to our marine system keep coming. And I think that's why our reefs might well be in trouble.' ___
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Will we see the northern lights in Oklahoma tonight? See aurora forecast
When experienced stargazers in the continental United States hear the words, "geomagnetic storm," likely one question comes to mind: Are we getting some northern lights? In this case, the answer is yes, but it may depend on where you live. An explosion on the sun's outermost atmosphere of charged particles, known as a coronal mass ejection, has been hurtling toward Earth since Tuesday, Aug. 5, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency's Space Weather Prediction Center has since been tracking the ejection, which it said has the potential to soon trigger a geomagnetic storm on Earth. What does that mean for skywatchers? Well, the particles flowing from the sun could interact with our planet's magnetosphere in ways that trigger the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis. For the next two nights, the luminous green and red glow of the auroras may be more widely visible than is typical in up to 18 states in the U.S. Here's everything to know about the solar storm, as well as where and when to see the northern lights it could produce in the U.S. Northern Lights: The sun is spewing massive solar flares toward Earth Could geomagnetic storm disrupt communications on Earth? Weaker solar activity won't be noticeable here on Earth. But a geomagnetic storm with enough energy output has the potential to disrupt satellites, communications systems, and even ground-based technologies like power grids if directed at our planet. In extreme cases, powerful solar events even pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts, NASA says. About a year ago, in May 2024, a historically powerful geomagnetic storm was responsible for some reports of power grid irregularities and interference with GPS signals – even farming equipment. On the bright side, it also unleashed spectacular views of the northern lights in parts of the country where auroras are not often visible. In this case, a rapid, intense flash of electromagnetic energy ranks as a G1-G2 on NOAA's scale, indicating a minor-moderate geomagnetic storm that could cause "manageable effects to some technological infrastructure," the agency stated. A moderate geomagnetic storm is also strong enough to unleash views of the northern lights, also known as auroras, in some northern and upper midwest states. What are the northern lights? The auroras are a natural light display in Earth's sky that are famously best seen in high-latitude regions of the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The phenomenon is caused when electrically charged particles from space enter Earth's atmosphere and collide with molecules and gases like oxygen and nitrogen, causing the atmospheric particles to gain energy. To return to their normal state, the particles release that energy in the form of light, according to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks Geophysical Institute website, which tracks the phenomenon. As auroras form, Earth's magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles through a process that produces a stunning display of rays, spirals and flickers that have fascinated humans for millennia. Whether hues of green, red, blue and even pink dance about in the sky depends on the altitude where the collisions occur, as well as the composition and density of the atmosphere at the time. Where could auroras be visible? For most of the time, auroras are best seen around the magnetic poles of the Northern and Southern hemispheres in Europe, Asia and North America. In the U.S., Alaska is well known to have the best viewing opportunities for the northern lights. But a geomagnetic storm tracked by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to make the auroras visible farther from the poles. The geomagnetic activity detected by NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center has a Kp index of 6 on Thursday, Aug. 7, meaning the northern lights will be active and brighter further from the poles, according to the agency. "At this geomagnetic activity level, it might be possible to see the aurora from the northern edge of the United States," NOAA says on its website. In the U.S., the auroras will be visible Thursday to at least the northern parts of the following states: Washington Idaho Montana North Dakota South Dakota Minnesota Wisconisn Michigan A thin red "viewline" representing the southern-most locations from which you may see the aurora on the northern horizon extends to: Oregon Wyoming Nebraska Iowa Illinois Indiana New York Vermont New Hampshire Maine Will we see the northern lights in Oklahoma? It's possible, though unlikely this time. The best chance of seeing auroras late at night is to look north between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, and away from city lights. This far south, the lights are best seen with a camera, even the one that comes equipped with your smartphone. Although some maps and forecasts have predicted low visibility in southern states, some Oklahomans have still documented nights throughout the summer when they saw the lights in the late-night hours. Geomagnetic storm could produce auroras again Friday night The geomagentic storm will be less powerful Friday, Aug. 8, but is forecast to still be strong enough to trigger the northern lights once again across the northern U.S. By then, though, NOAA predicts the KP index will be downgraded to a 5, which still means the auroras are still bright further than usual from the poles. "If you are in the right place, these aurora can be quite pleasing to look at," according to NOAA's description of of 5-rating on the KP scale. When, how to see the northern lights Even though conditions are prime for more impending aurora shows, experts have long struggled to accurately forecast exactly when and where the phenomenon will ever occur. Even the best predictions can accurately be made only a few days or even hours in advance. But as a rule of thumb, if the weather is clear, the best aurora is usually visible within an hour or two of midnight, according to NOAA. And if it looks as if the northern lights will flare up near you, you should get away from cities and travel to dark locations free from light pollution so you can best see them. The agency also maintains an aurora dashboard that should help skygazers track the phenomenon. NOAA's 30-minute aurora forecast may be particularly useful for regular updates on viewing opportunities. This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Northern lights possible across the US. See forecast for Oklahoma Solve the daily Crossword
