Extinct Atlas Lion Allegedly Spotted in Moroccan Village, Sparking Investigation

Has an Atlas lion appeared in the village of Tnine Ait Boukhayou, in the rural commune of Sebt Ait Rahhou (Province of Khénifra)? Hamid, a resident of the douar, tells Aabbir that he found himself face to face with the feline, on Monday, December 18, as he was traveling at dawn by mule to the Tnine Ait Boukhayou market. He claims to have identified the imposing Atlas lion, distinguished by its yellow mane and tail ending in a tuft of hair, using his flashlight because it was still dark that day.

A few days later, the testimony of a young shepherdess tends to corroborate the reappearance of an Atlas lion in the village. She claims to have been attacked by a wild animal resembling the one described by Hamid. The feline would have bitten her knee and injured her in several parts of the body after a fall, far from her parents’ home.

Alerted, the services of the commune of Sebt Ait Rahhou set up a commission which had carried out, on Saturday, December 30, a combing operation on the site and initiated meetings with some of the residents, at the end of which they affirmed "to the local public opinion that "these rumors are unfounded". The existence of this animal in this area is therefore not confirmed. "The competent medical services, for their part, concluded that the minor injury suffered by the girl in question is not due to a lion bite," they added.