Unique Lions of Ethiopia

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The Addis Ababa Lion

(Image credit: Joerg Junhold and Klaus Eulenberger, Leipzig Zoo)

Collected By Selassie, A Figure Revered By Rastas

(Image credit: Joerg Junhold and Klaus Eulenberger, Leipzig Zoo)

The late emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, established the zoo in 1948 with seven founder lions (five males and two females).

Unique Genes

(Image credit: Joerg Junhold and Klaus Eulenberger, Leipzig Zoo)

There are 15 descendants of those lions currently at the Addis Ababa Zoo and DNA tests showed that the big cats make up a genetically distinct population.

How To Preserve The Population

(Image credit: Joerg Junhold and Klaus Eulenberger, Leipzig Zoo)

With so few of the Addis Ababa lions left, and none known in the wild, researchers say captive breeding could ensure that the group doesn't disappear.

Where Did They Come From?

(Image credit: Joerg Junhold and Klaus Eulenberger, Leipzig Zoo)

Since the lions' DNA isn't comparable to any other populations with genetic data available, the researchers don't know where the group came from geographically. It has been claimed that the founder lions were captured in southwestern Ethiopia.

Megan Gannon
Megan Gannon
Live Science Contributor
Megan has been writing for Live Science and Space.com since 2012. Her interests range from archaeology to space exploration, and she has a bachelor's degree in English and art history from New York University. Megan spent two years as a reporter on the national desk at NewsCore. She has watched dinosaur auctions, witnessed rocket launches, licked ancient pottery sherds in Cyprus and flown in zero gravity. Follow her on Twitter and Google+.