Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) . Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1:41.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Africa", restricted by Allen (1924:222) to "the Barbary coast region of Africa, or, more explicity, Constantine, Algeria " .

DISTRIBUTION: Present (except in tropical rain forests) in Botswana, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Formerly present but now extinct in Algeria, Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia.

STATUS: CITES - Appendix I as P. I. persica; otherwise Appendix II. U.S. ESA and IUCN - Endangered as P. I. persica .

SYNONYMS: adusta Pocock, 1927; africanus Brehm, 1829; asiaticus Jardine, 1834; azandicus Allen, 1924; barbaricus Meyer, 1826; barbarus Fischer, 1829; bengalensis Bennett, 1829; bleyenberghi Lönnberg, 1914; capensis Fischer, 1829; gambianus Gray, 1843; goojratensis Smee, 1833; hollisteri Allen, 1924; indicus de Blainville, 1843; kamptzi Matschie, 1900; krugeri Roberts, 1929; maculatus Huevelmans, 1955; massaicus Neumann, 1900; melanochaitus H. Smith, 1842; nigra Loche, 1858; nobilis Gray, 1867; nubicus Blainville, 1843; nyanzae Heller, 1913; persicus Meyer, 1826; roosevelti Heller, 1913; sabakiensis Lönnberg, 1905; senegalensis Meyer, 1826; somaliensis Noack, 1891; suahelicus Neumann, 1900; vernayi Roberts, 1948; webbiensis Zukowsky, 1964.

COMMENTS: Revised by Pocock (1930c). Placed in Panthera by Pocock (1930c), Weigel (1961), Kratochvil (1982c), Hemmer (1978), and Groves (1982a).