Maned Mystery Lions in Georgia
Posted by: Loren Coleman on August 1st, 2009
As you will recall, earlier this year, it was reported that “lions” were being seen in Georgia (see here). Some of these, it now appears are “maned lions” in Hall County.
Several of the reports described, not a mountain lion but what people seem to think was an African lion.
We found some consistency in those reports. So we went there and set some traps but didn’t catch anything.
In all of these big cat sightings, our first thought is that we’re probably, if we’re dealing with a legitimate, accurate report, we’re probably dealing with something that someone had a role in being there.
The reports were geographically close by, and, on a timeline, they was enough time for one animal to get from Point A to Point B. And the descriptions that people gave of the animal were consistent between the four reports.
After the original reports and story, it’s been a mismash of reports. We did have a horse killed and the big cat was suspected. We did have a cow attacked and the big cat was suspected.
Scott Frazier, wildlife biologist, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.
Are these Panthera atrox or escaped African lions? Even when these cats are taken, we might not know.
Look at what happened in 2002.
These existing photos of the two killed Arkansas lions (mostly one is shown), for September 23 and 24, 2002, were of “mystery cats” found and killed. They were said to not be escapees or pets. But then DNA sampling was not done, and both bodies were destroyed. Clearly the photos show a maned felid. What species were they?
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
i don’t know why they would say they weren’t escapees or pets, other than there were no reports of anyone missing their african lion. it is likely the offender that had the illegal exotics wouldn’t report them as missing as he is likely to be depraved. nor would he come forward after the capture.
imo, the pictures are clearly of an african lion. the sexual dymophism displayed by the large mane is, by most indications, unique to modern african-sub lions. cave depictions of the european cave lion do not show large dark manes and the asiatic lion’s main is less pronounced. while the argument can be made that cave drawings may be females, i find, given the historical infatuation with the mane in later human art, that it would have been illustrated had it been present. i am of the belief that the big mane is a more recent evolutionary feature and would not be found with Panthera leo atrox unless developed in parallel.
I see big problems with this story , the first being size , this animal is no larger then a common coyote, even if it were a lion ,any maned lion of that size would not be an adult thus no mane .Also the head is conveniently pointed away from the camera, it could be nothing more then a bit of fur thrown on the head , it is unlikely to the extreme that anyone shooting a lion with a mane would do anything to hide any part of it, they would photograph every possible view point.Next the alleged carcasses were destroyed ? Not likely , if you were to shoot an animal like an American maned lion then you would show everyone , it’s new and different , you wouldn’t just destroy the carcass, lastly , if you were to destroy the carcass how was it done , it is again unlikely they would build a big enough fire to destroy it which means burial , if it were burial then it could be easily dug up and had DNA extracted, I think this is nothing more then the most amateur of pranks
This USA Today story seems to indicate that there wasn’t much doubt as to the animals being lions.
Looking forward to more reports about this to come from the Georgia backwoods. Would be exciting (for us here, at least) to know that Maned Lions roam the Georgia countryside. Hall County is not TOO far away from where I live. Hopefully nothing “unfortunate” will happen if this is true. Great post, Loren.
Most state game agencies do not admit that these animals are loose. They are not doing there job when one is found dead or alive and it is not properly tested and or dna tested to see where it came from and any other clues to aid it the identification of the animal and perhaps the owner.
Maeko writes:
This is an incorrect statement. I’ve written elsewhere and cited sources of the maned and unmaned lions that have, indeed, been found in European cave art.
See Mysterious America for an entire chapter on these kinds of questions.
Also, the USA Today article merely restates the usual, standard confused but status quo responses. It actually tells nothing provable about the actual origins of the 2002 “lions” that were killed and then their bodies burned.
I have to agree with Inbetween, that is a dinky lion. Lions, even the wimpy little Gur Forest ones, are a dang sight bigger than that specimen. Then there’s the matter of proportions and how the animal was photographed. The smell has gone beyond stink into the realm of stench.
well, just goes to show ya…research, research, research! i missed that one, Loren; thanks.
yes, i also found the size bothersome, but i am wary to make judgements on size from photos. being slightly near-sighted, my depth perception is poor. i have a hard time determining size and distance in person!
The third photo (actually the photo the man in the photo is holding) clearly shows a full sized lion. The man in the photo-within-a-photo is clearly one of the men in the second photo which shows a full sized rump sticking out from beneath a a bush. Therefore, coupled with the credible eyewitness reports, I have no doubt it was real non-native lions that were killed in Arkansas. Why the creature in the first photo should look so small and odd, I can’t say, save to suggest it is curled up somewhat (perhaps an action during its dying moments?) and partially the resut of an odd camera perspective. The camera can after all play some strange tricks.
You must also keep in mind that if these are African Lions, then they would not have the exact same kinds of resources that a true African Lion would have. Physiologically this can contribute to stunted growth. Also the waether in Georgia has several extremes, much like most of the South. Cold weather tends to promote hair growth, and I severely doubt that the African Lion would actually be an exception to that rule. At our local Zoo in Oklahoma City the lions get a much thicker mane in the winter. Even our young lion male had a full mane last winter. So we might keep these things in mind as investigators of strange creatures in unnatural environments.