THE LION 



quite distinct. If a hybrid is produced by man's 

 ingenuity, this abnormality cannot be perpetuated. 



Lions are now extinct in South Africa south- 

 ward of the Orange River. They are still to be 

 found in Zululand, the wilder parts of the Trans- 

 vaal, the Kalahari, and in Rhodesia, as well as 

 German South-west Africa. Various writers men- 

 tion that lions were plentiful near Capetown as 

 late as the year 1801. Kolben says that in 1707 

 they were quite common in the vicinity of the 

 town. The last lion recorded from the Cape Colony 

 was one killed near Commetjes Post in 1842. In 

 Natal the last one recorded was shot by General 

 Bisset in 1865. 



In 1897 a lion was killed at Springs near Johan- 

 nesburg, and another the following year at Heidel- 

 burg, south of Johannesburg. At present the lion 

 ranges from the northern parts of South Africa 

 right through Africa and Southern Asia as far as 

 North-west India. In Great Britain and Europe 

 the lion was formerly common, as is proven by the 

 numerous bones and teeth found in caves, buried 

 in gravel and other deposits. 



