Black lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
I imagine you stopped by to get the scoop on real black lions. I’m sorry to disappoint you if you had your hopes up, but at least not all hope is lost.
We can believe in our minds that black lions are real even if it is just fantasy. But is it just fantasy?
Do black lions really exist? Are black lions real?
Well, kinda yes and no. Actually, more no than yes – but let’s talk about it!
Are Black Lions Real?
Black lions are not real and do not exist in nature. Lions are not the color black when they are cubs, nor are there any real adult black lions in the world today.
Lions found in nature have a yellowish-gold coat with adult males having a mane that ranges in colors from red to brown to blonde.
Once thought to be completely extinct, a small population of Ethiopian lions was found a few years ago that have black manes (known as Ethiopian black-maned lions), but there have never been any real black lions found in nature.
Although black lions are not real, there are a handful of white lions found in nature (just a side note).
Did Black Lions Ever Exist?
Black lions have never existed in nature. Black-maned lions have existed in the past and still exist in today’s world, albeit only at a small population size in Ethiopia.
According to National Geographic, there are less than 100 known black-maned lions left in nature, which were found a few years back after it was believed the subspecies had gone completely extinct.
Ethiopian black lions exist today but other black-maned lions have existed in the past.
It is believed that some of the extinct species of lions – including Cape lions and Barbary lions – portrayed darker-colored manes, with some of these lions sporting black manes.
Where Are Black Lions Found?
Black lions or more specifically “black-maned lions” are found in nature only in Ethiopia. Black lions are not real, but black-maned lions are real and still exist in a small population in today’s world.
There is no evidence of black lions ever existing. If they did exist, we have no knowledge of where or how they lived.
Since black lions are not real and may have never existed, they can’t be found anywhere in nature today.
What Are Black Lions Called?
No true black lions are real or have ever existed but black lions as we know them today are actually called black-maned lions.
Black-maned lions still sport a yellowish-gold coat but the main difference between their colors and other lions is their black manes.
Black-maned lions are not completely black, but that is the closest subspecies in nature in relation to a real black lion.
Why Do People Believe that Black Lions Are Real?
It is unclear why people think that black lions are real but speculations can be made.
It could be because photoshopped and altered photos depicting black lions flooded the Internet sometime in the past.
Some people looking at the pictures took them at face value and started to believe or at least wonder if black lions were real.
Whether people believed it or not, the photos did intrigue interest and the existence of black lions became a popular topic circulating the Internet.
And you know how some people are. Either they see something and believe it right away or they want to believe it because it is cool.
While there is a possibility that black lions existed sometime in the past, there is no real evidence to analyze to prove or disprove this theory.
Why Don’t Black Lions Exist?
It is hard to say why black lions don’t exist in nature since other cat species do sport coats of black. It likely has to do with the environments in which lions inhabit.
The typical yellow-gold coats of lions in nature are these colors to help lions camouflage themselves as much as possible since lions rely on stealth and stalking to catch their prey.
If black lions existed in the world today, they likely wouldn’t be on the open plains or in the savanna since these environments appear to be well-suited for the colors of lions that actually exist in nature.
Black lions would likely inhabit an entirely different habitat from the lions we see in nature today.
It is possible that black lions existed in nature in the distant past but have since gone extinct. But black lions ever existing is just speculation with no evidence to back the theory up.
Recap
Black lions are not real and can not be found in nature today. Black lions are a myth or an Internet sensation unless proven otherwise.
While it is possible that black lions did exist at some point in the past, there is no evidence to support any existence of black lions in the history of the world as we know it.
Black lions are not real, but black-maned lions do exist. Black-maned lions are still around today even though they were once thought to be extinct – but only a handful are still found in nature.
Black lions became a thing because there has always been speculation on whether they existed in the distant past. Even before the Internet, people wondered if black lions ever existed.
When photos of black lions started making the rounds on the Internet, some people started to believe that not only did black lions exist in the past but still exist in today’s world.
However, this is just simply not the case. There is no evidence to support black lions ever existing and every photo of a black lion found on the Internet has been altered in some form to give the lion the appearance of a black color.
Unless a new discovery is made, black lions will continue to exist only in the fantasy world but you can rest assured that the Internet will always have pictures of black lions floating around. And you will always have some people speculating whether black lions exist or ever existed in the past.
