Barbary lion the King of Morocco's collection. At the beginning of the 21st century, the Addis Ababa Zoo kept 16 adult lions. With their dark, brown manes extending through the front legs, they looked like Barbary or Cape lions. Their ancestors were caught in southwestern Ethiopia as part of a zoological collection for Emperor Haile Selassie I. In March 2010, two lion cubs were moved to the Texas Zoo in Victoria, Texas, where efforts were made to preserve Barbary lions under the WildLink International conservation programme. Whether the cubs are of Barbary lion descent was not determined. In 2011, the Port Lympne
Apex predator example, reduction in the population of sperm whales, apex predators with a fractional trophic level of 4.7, by hunting has caused an increase in the population of large squid, trophic level over 4 (carnivores that eat other carnivores). This effect, called mesopredator release, occurs in terrestrial and marine ecosystems; for instance, in North America, the ranges of all apex carnivores have contracted whereas those of 60% of mesopredators have grown in the past two centuries. Because apex predators have powerful effects on other predators, on herbivores, and on plants, they can be important in nature conservation. Humans have hunted many