The Wildlife Atlas

The Barbary lion is Morocco's ghost. The last wild Barbary lion was shot in the Atlas Mountains in the 1920s. The subspecies — larger and darker-maned than East African lions — once ranged across North Africa. A small captive population descended from the Moroccan royal collection survives in zoos. Reintroduction has been discussed but not implemented. The lion remains Morocco's national symbol — present on the coat of arms, absent from the landscape.

The Barbary macaque survives. The only primate in Africa north of the Sahara, it inhabits the cedar and oak forests of the Middle Atlas — particularly around Azrou and Ifrane — and a small population in the Rif. Total numbers are estimated at 5,000 to 8,000, declining. Habitat loss, illegal capture for the pet trade, and tourism pressure are the main threats. The Ifrane National Park provides the strongest protection.

The fennec fox is the Saharan icon — the smallest canid in the world, with enormous ears adapted to dissipate heat and detect underground prey. It inhabits the Erg Chebbi and Erg Chigaga dune systems and the rocky desert of the eastern regions. Strictly nocturnal, it is rarely seen by visitors but commonly heard — a sharp, high-pitched bark in the desert night.

Barbary sheep (aoudad) inhabit the rocky slopes of the Anti-Atlas and the gorges of the eastern Atlas. The species is adapted to extreme aridity — it can survive on dew and the moisture content of vegetation. Populations have declined due to hunting and habitat competition with domestic goats.

The desert hedgehog, the striped hyena, the common genet, the golden jackal, the Cuvier's gazelle — Morocco's mammal fauna is a remnant of a much richer assemblage that existed before human expansion, desertification, and hunting reduced the megafauna to memory. What survives is worth protecting. The national park system — Toubkal, Ifrane, Souss-Massa, Talassemtane — provides the framework, if not always the enforcement.

Explore the full interactive module — with species maps, population data, and the conservation status of Morocco's wildlife — at Dancing with Lions: https://www.dancingwiththelions.com/data/wildlife-atlas