The following is my translation of an article called: Löwen von Dr Ludwig Staby. It appeared in a German popular science magazine, Kosmos Handweiser für Naturfreunde 1913, Heft 9, Seiten 328-330. Although an illustration is referred to in the text, it isn't included here.
I'm not aware of any previous translation.
Trevor Dykes.

Lions by Dr Ludwig Staby
No animal of the non-European fauna is as famous across the whole world as the lion, which is not only seen as being an embodiment of energy and courage, but also has long been accepted as the most noble of animals. Therefore, it is described as a king in animal fables and was prized as a symbol for brave dukes and knights, and occurs exceptionally often as an animal in heraldry. And, due to this, growing children today still become aware of the lion in their first picture books, earlier than for the main representatives of our native animals. Because lions are shown as the main attraction in each zoological garden, and even in every travelling menagerie, popular opinions have arisen about the life and habits of the lion across the centuries which, in no way, can stand up to a sceptical examination. This is an illustration of a strange yet frequent fact that even the most famous of animals are given poetic qualities which, in reality, they do not possess.

The mythological figures of earlier times, the gryphons, were winged lions and, similarly, the Egyptian sphinx had an enormous lion's body with wings but the head and breasts of a maiden. How few are the sagas and stories that have not been told about the great courage of the lion! Once a Roman slave is said to have removed a painful thorn from the foot of a lion which, in thanks, was the brought his food by the lion in the cave in which he had escaped to. Later, after the slave had been recaptured and taken to the circus to be thrown to the wild animals, the largest of the lions snuggled against his feet instead of tearing him to pieces; by coincidence, this was the same lion that the slave had previously helped. Just as widely known is the story of Heinrich the Lion, who had saved a lion from being strangled by a snake. Out of gratitude this animal then followed him like a loyal dog. Obviously, the lion played a large role in the superstitions and quack medicines of earlier times. The fat of the story animal was supposed to provide the hunter, who had rubbed it onto his body, a sure protection against other wild animals, and in an old hunting book it is written: (Additional confession: The first word, Derowegen, is an antiquated term I'm not familiar with.) "Should you meet with a wolf or a bear, do not flee but let it smell the fat", and this would naturally cause the relevant animal to withdraw as quickly as possible. It was widely believed, and the opinion is still maintained, that the lion cannot tolerate the crowing of a cockerel, but rather would flee from it in fear; it need not be stressed that this is only a fairy tale.

The home of the lion is just about the whole of Africa, where it can be found everywhere between the northern edge and the southernmost tip, excepting for Egypt, in any suitable area until the Europeans put it under pressure. It is a savannah animal and therefore absent in jungle areas. Beyond Africa, it can also be found in Asia up to North India. It lives there in the northwest in Gujarat and in Bundelschand; furthermore, the lion is frequently found in Persia (Province Schira) and in Mesopotamia and probably in the almost unexplored areas of Inner Arabia. In contrast, it is extinct in Palestine and Syria, and also on the Balkans Peninsular where, in early historical times, it still lived (see, for example, the Hercules saga by Homer). It was eradicated there at a later date than in Egypt.

In prehistoric times, it was also distributed across the whole of Europe, as shown by the plentiful discoveries of bones of cave lions from the Pleistocene, and this has to be seen as the ancestor of our present lion, and is not very different from it. The lion is probably the descendant of stripped cats of earlier epochs, as young lions arrive on the world with such coats on which stripes of spots are clearly recognisable. Young lions retain these spots for quite long (see illustration), and they eventually disappear on male animals to be replaced by a more uniform fur. Adult females have not rarely been killed on which the limbs and underside of the body still show clear traces of these markings. The single coloured fur is most probably an adaptation of the lion obtained from its present living area; it fits well with the yellow and brown tones of the savannah, the real home of the lion.

Today, the lion is being forced into extinction in some areas of its original homeland by the incursions of European culture, especially in the northern countries of Africa in Algeria, Tunisia, Tripoli, but also south of the Ornaje; in contrast, it is commonly found in Obamboland, Betschuanland, Rhodesia etc. In earlier centuries, the lion was so unusually common in Capeland that the Governor of Cape Town, in the year 1653, wrote in his diary: "This evening it appeared as if the lions wanted to take the castle by storm." Furthermore, in little explored areas of the interior of the Black Continent, the large carnivore can still be met rather frequently, and its commonness has only been lessened where firearms have been used against its rule. But it also understands, to a certain extent, how to adapt to the culture, and how to exploit the plantations of farmers and settlements, and this is why it has not died out in, for example, German East Africa but rather, on the contrary, it resides in close proximity to towns and large villages.

The lion belongs to the real cats which have the least teeth among all carnivores, but the best specialised dentition for a diet of only meat with large canines. The tongue possesses rough, sharp cones, the head, throat and breast of male lions have significantly longer hairs, and it is this mane which gives the animal its impressive appearance. As a result of wear and regular replacement of hair, this is usually much weaker for animals living in the wild than for those held in captivity. Strong manes, and also stomach manes, feature on the animals lions found in high mountains (Abyssinian, Atlas, Persian ad Lapelandian). In contrast to most other cats which prowl up to attack their prey, lions usually hunt in larger or smaller groups. They other attack the game, eg. a herd of antelope, from all sides or drive it towards each other. When attacking, it is the females that appear both busier and more aggressive. The earlier view, that lions approached their prey with high bounds, has been shown to be incorrect by numerous observations and photographs; they rather prowl in a genuinely cat-like manner, and stay close to the ground, taking careful account of cover and wind direction so as to get as near as possible to their prey, and then overcome it with a powerful spring; a terrible bite from the mighty teeth kills the victim almost immediately by breaking the neck.

The Simba, as the lion is known in Africa, mostly spends the day hidden away in a convenient place, and first emerges when the sun disappears beneath the evening horizon and night falls after a short dusk, and it then sets off to hunt with its compatriots across a wide area and all animals, to which they come near, are sent into worry and shock.

The question is often posed as to whether the lion will attack a person for no cause. In general, the answer to this must be an unconditional no; as with almost every other animal, the lion tries to avoid meeting a person, indeed, it will often flee at the first sight of its dangerous enemy. It is naturally an entirely different matter when a lion has been driven into a corner by a hunt, or when wounded; then, in its anger, it will understandably attack any person it can reach, and then it is the most dangerous opponent that can be envisaged. A further exception applies for lions that have often had contact with people, and has recognised their defencelessness. These lions, mostly very old specimens, prefer to live near to villages and towns so as to attack lone walkers. These can turn into real 'man-eaters', and spread horror and shock across the whole district. But these dangerous beasts also differentiate between the relatively helpless blacks and the whites equipped with their death-bringing weapons; only the first are at serious risk. But again, during a hunt, a white hunter must also be very careful, and they should approach this mighty predator on foot only when in the company of a few natives, then as well as his shooting skills, he will require a large measure of care, courage and cold-bloodedness in order to defeat his dangerous opponent. The fear of the lion is so deeply engrained into the blood and flesh of the natives, that just catching sight of a lion or hearing its roar can immediately result in them taking to their heels, as not all Negro tribes contain men brave enough to dare courageously standing up to the Simba.

In captivity, the lion mostly has a fairly well tempered character, will become friendly with its keeper, allow itself to be touched and can even be played with, and it is also relatively obedient. Lions reproduce without difficulty in zoological gardens, and many zoos make good money by raising and selling the young sons of the desert, and almost all lions which can be seen in menageries and circuses have been born in zoological gardens, and have never seen the homeland of their fathers.

An index of more of my translations of old Kosmos articles can be found at:

Kosmos Translations Archive

A number of Mesozoic (and post-Mesozoic) location summaries can be found at Localities.