Leo (constellation) Leo (constellation) Leo is one of the constellations of the zodiac, lying between Cancer the crab to the west and Virgo the maiden to the east. Its name is Latin for lion, and to the ancient Greeks represented the Nemean Lion killed by the mythical Greek hero Heracles meaning 'Glory of Hera' (known to the ancient Romans as Hercules) as one of his twelve labors. Its symbol is (Unicode ♌). One of the 48 constellations described by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, Leo remains one of the 88 modern constellations today, and one of the most easily recognizable due to its
Panthera leo leo Panthera leo leo Panthera leo leo is the nominate subspecies of the lion, which today is present in West Africa, northern Central Africa and India. It is regionally extinct in southern Europe, West Asia and North Africa. In India, the sole lion population lives in and around Gir Forest National Park. In West and Central Africa, it is restricted to fragmented and isolated populations, most of them declining. The West African population is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List; this population is isolated and comprises fewer than 250 mature individuals. In 2005, a Lion Conservation Strategy was