The black lion is only 2 on earth. Does a black lion exist in nature? Description of the lion, appearance, characteristics, photos of the animal

Cherny Lev Semenovich, was born in 1954 in Tashkent. Jew. Israeli citizen.

The lion is the middle of the three brothers. The elder brother, Michael, born in 1952, lives in Israel, the younger, David, born in 1958, lives in the United States. L. Cherny, after leaving in 1994 from Russia to the West, lived in Great Britain and in Israel. (www.chernoi.ru 04/10/00)

While studying at the Tashkent Polytechnic Institute, the student Cherny was actively engaged in speculation, for which he was prosecuted. He bought his freedom in exchange for cooperation with the KGB. At the end of the university, the Chekists provided Lev Cherny with a warm place - he took the post of head of the Quality Department of the Tashkent Excavator Plant, which produced consumer goods. (Сompromat.Ru 10.03.00)

In 1985, Lev created one of the first production cooperatives in Uzbekistan on the basis of this branch. To work in it, he attracted his elder brother Mikhail, who took upon himself the organization of production, while Leo was engaged in the supply of raw materials and marketing of products, financial matters. The cooperative was essentially the first and last joint venture of the brothers.

Soon, Lev Cherny became one of the largest “guilds” working in the field of shadow production of consumer goods. The production was provided with raw materials and materials, which were extracted through systematic thefts of state property on an especially large scale. In this L. Cherny relied on the support of organized criminal groups in Tashkent, the leaders of which were his former school friends. According to some reports, money for the promotion of the cooperative was allocated from the local “common fund”, since Leo was of interest to crime in connection with the creation of a structure for laundering the proceeds of racketeering, prostitution, and the sale of arms and drugs. Through ties with the Uzbek criminal community, primarily with Gafur Rakhimov and Tofik Arifov, Cherny established relations with such major figures of the underworld as kingpin Vyacheslav Ivankov (“Yaponchik”) and Otari Kvantrishvili (“Otarik”). (Www. chernoi.nu)

In 1990, Cherny met with the owner of Trans Commodities, Sam Kislin, a native of Odessa, and now an American citizen. Together they are not starting to supply raw materials to Russian metallurgical enterprises. The lack of working capital forced the directors to resort to the services of L. Cherny and Kislin. The scope of activities of Trans Commodities expanded and soon L. Cherny registered the company Trans-CIS Commodities Ltd. in Monte Carlo (Principality of Monaco). (TCC), which effectively assigned the Trans Commodities business. Kislin’s attempts to achieve a civilized partition were harshly suppressed: he was advised to “seriously think if his wife wants to see him and his children alive.”

According to the US FBI and the Swiss police, “Yaponchik” became L. Cherny’s partner in Trans Commodities and the company was actively used to launder dirty money, including money received from the drug business.

In 1991, L. Cherny met in Moscow with Goran Stanovich, a representative of the small company Trans-World Metals (TWM), owned by the English businessman David Ruben. At that time, TWM mediated small shipments of tin to the London Metal Exchange (LME) and collaborated with VO Raznoimport.

TCC began working with TWM. It was then that the sphere of the main interests of L. Cherny became the aluminum industry of Russia and other former republics of the USSR. In 1992, a conglomerate of intermediary firms formed around TWM, called Trans-World Group (TWG). (www.chernoi.nu)

In 1992, Cherny came to Soskovets, who sanctioned the method of pumping money out of the country - tolling, unprecedented in the economic history of mankind, in the aluminum industry of Russia. The tolling (alumina) regime “under customs control” exempted TWG from taxes and customs duties on imported raw materials and exported metal. At the same time, up to 75% of foreign currency earnings remained on the accounts of intermediary firms. Thanks to tolling, TWG quickly became one of the three largest players on the London Metal Exchange. In 1995, TWG sold over 1 million tons of aluminum on this exchange. 5% of total world production. TWG's annual revenue has reached $ 5 billion. TWG President D. Roubin repeatedly emphasized in the British press that "it was Leo who set up business in the territory of the former Soviet Union with his connections." Black was listed in TWG as just a general consultant, but, according to company employees, all issues related to doing business in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan were resolved individually. 03.00)

Cherny himself claimed that a foreign partner in the person of Ruben was needed to raise funds to finance operations with aluminum plants. However, in reality, Trans-World Metals in its scale could not play the role of a major investor, and TWG was needed by L. Cherny only for the legalization of capital of criminal origin, primarily for investing funds from the common fund in a legal business. TWG President D. Rouben assigned the role of “zits-chairman”.

Almost throughout his career in big business, L. Cherny was in the field of view of law enforcement agencies. So, in early 1992, the American company Newtel Co., established by emigrants from Russia, conducted a large-scale operation to collect ruble funds from Russian buyers for the purchase of imported industrial goods and food products. The collected funds were converted into hard currency (the total amount was estimated in millions of dollars) and transferred abroad. Allegedly, their conversion through the Stolichniy bank was organized by L. Cherny. (www.chernoi.ru)

Seeing the high profitability of operations in the Russian aluminum business, L. Cherny took energetic steps to establish control over the plants through the acquisition of substantial blocks of their shares. To circumvent the restriction imposed by the Government of the Russian Federation of 20% on the free acquisition of shares of Russian enterprises, L. Cherny created dozens of anonymous offshore companies in Monaco, Gibraltar, Switzerland, the Virgin Islands, Bahamas, Cyprus, etc. In turn, these offshore companies have established subsidiaries in Russia, of which there were over a hundred. The network of these firms was actively involved in the purchase of shares, which allowed TWG to become a shareholder in enterprises by the beginning of 1995, producing a total of more than 2 million tons of aluminum per year. These are Bratsk (BrAZ), Krasnoyarsk (KrAZ), Sayansk (SaAZ), Novokuznetsk (NkAZ) and Nadvoitsky (NAZ) aluminum plants.

When buying up the shares of factories, funds stolen from the country's budget were used with the help of the so-called “Chechen payment advice notes” The investigation of the case of fake payment advice notes revealed that most of the companies making payments were one-day floats and disappeared after payment under an agreement with TSS. There were no formal grounds for indictment of the head of Trans-CIS under such a scheme. 03.00)

According to experts, L. Cherny has to do with the theft of at least $ 800 million out of a total of about $ 2 billion stolen in the Russian banking system using forged banking documents.

It remains unclear exactly how Trans-World financed the start of its activities in Russia. David Ruben claims that he and Simon invested their own funds in the initial activities, but not a single document was submitted indicating that they were the source of the initial funding. And this brings us back to the case of embezzlement of funds of the Central Bank, in the center of which is a scam that includes multi-level transactions, under the cover of which a dollar-ruble exchange was carried out and, through Russian banks, through fake memos, government funds were transferred to a number of companies, including Trans-World. In the middle of the deal are two companies with similar names: Trans-CIS Commodities, founded by Leo with the help of David Ruben, and Trans-Commodities, a company located in New York, 50% owned by Mikhail (Michael’s partner in Trans-Commodities was Sam Kislin, who is mentioned in the FBI report as being associated with the imprisoned Russian “godfather,” and whose nephew Joel Bartow claimed worked with Mikhail Cherny, became a member of the New York Economic Development Committee and made significant financial contributions. Hell in support of Bill Clinton, Al Gore and Rudolph Giuliani. He denies any connection to the Mafia or with Trans-World). (Fortune 06/12/00)

In the struggle for the division and redistribution of property in the aluminum industry, the forces of organized crime were most actively involved. The death toll in this fight (which journalists called the "Great Patriotic Aluminum War") was in the tens. Especially bloody were the clashes between factions vying for control of the Krasnoyarsk aluminum smelter. With the filing of L. Cherny in 1991, one of the local criminal leaders Anatoly Bykov (“Bull”) infiltrated KrAZ, whose “godfathers” were the leaders of the Uzbek organized crime groups, in particular, the school friend of Cherny T. Arifov. He recommended Bykov to his former fellow countryman L. Black, and he persuaded Ivankov, “Jap” to bet on “Bull”.

Over the next two years, Bykov managed to supplant or destroy all his competitors and headed the organized criminal community of the Krasnoyarsk Territory. There was a corresponding section of the spheres of influence of criminals in the region’s aluminum industry: the thief in law Vladimir Tyurin (Tyurik) representing Yaponchik in Eastern Siberia oversaw the supply of alumina to BrAZ, Bykov was legalized as one of the owners of KrAZ, and Vladimir closely associated with Bykov Tatarenkov (“Tatarin”) tried to establish control over SaAZ. Tatar led a gang of up to 60 active fighters and for its cruelty was recognized as the most dangerous criminal formation in the East Siberian region. Only during May-June 1994, the Tatar militants killed 10 people related to the struggle for influence in KrAZ.

Shortly before that, in April 1994, O. Kvantrishvili was shot dead in Moscow, who, as it became known later, took certain steps in order to oust L. Cherny's firms in the aluminum complex of Russia.

Fearing for his life, L. Cherny moved to the West with the beginning of criminal squabbles. There, especially at first, he constantly moved from place to place, living alternately in London, Paris, Monaco, New York, Tel Aviv, Caracas.

In 1995, the victims of contract killings were: in April, Vadim Yafyasov, vice president of Yugorsky Design Bureau, Oleg Kantor, president of the same bank in June, and Felix Lvov, representative of the American company AIOC, in September.

Yugorsky Bank, faced with serious financial problems, tried to reorient itself towards servicing aluminum smelters, and Yafyasov even a few days before his death even took over as the commercial director of KrAZ, where the structure he and Kantor represented became a competitor to TWG. Moreover, Yafyasov was a partner of L. Cherny for some time and had information about his business. Despite the pressure exerted on him, Yafyasov agreed to testify in the case of false advice notes, which, in the opinion of law enforcement officials, was the reason for his murder. (www.chernoi.ru)

In September of the same year, a representative of the American company A1OS Felix Lvov was killed. This company worked with Russian aluminum smelters according to the invented Black Tolling, and inadvertently wandered into its "garden". Lvov had the imprudence to declare at the State Duma hearings about the need to investigate violations of the law during the privatization of the aluminum industry, which directly affected the interests of L. Cherny, who then carried out the capture of KrAZ through Bykov. Lviv was offered a post at TWG and, after the refusal, he was killed.

In June 1996, Boris Fedorov, president of the National Sports Fund, received a bullet and four stab wounds in the center of Moscow, who had recently refused to cooperate with Trans-World and had publicized some information about the business of L. Cherny and his partners in Russia. On the night of April 24, 1999, under unclear circumstances, Fedorov suddenly died in his house in Moscow.

In 1998, TWG took control of the Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant (KrAZ), which owns a 60% stake in the Achinsk Alumina Refinery (AGK). In the summer of 1998, the term of external management at the plant ends. The manager G. Fetisov insisted on the immediate sale of the AGC from the auction - all the same, 827 creditors of the plant did not intend to wait long. Real buyers - the Alpha Group and the Siberian-Ural Aluminum Company - disputed the right of each other to pay $ 200 million for the plant. And this epic would have ended in normal bankruptcy, but in this case, KrAZ lost its property, and therefore, control over the prices of raw materials. TWG could not put up with this - tolling was in jeopardy. And in June 1998 - as ordered by L. Cherny - the Krasnoyarsk Regional Arbitration Court dismissed G. Fetisov from the post of managing director of the AGK and extended the external administration for another five and a half years. The court also appointed the new arbitration manager as by the same personal order - Naila Nasyrova. N. Nasyrov came to the plant after working at the Pavlodar aluminum plant in Kazakhstan, from where TWG was expelled by the authorities of the republic with shame. And Nasyrov then simply fled from Kazakhstan, having previously caused damage to her economy - according to the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in the amount of 40 million US dollars. In connection with the activities of TWG in his country, President Nazarbayev was forced to admit that tolling was a big economic mistake. The results of manager Nasyrov’s activities at AGK immediately and dramatically affected. Production of scarce raw materials on the domestic market fell over the month from 70 thousand tons (May) to 36 thousand (August). But this record is not the limit for Nasyrov - in September, the production of alumina at the plant is 26 thousand tons per month. A normally working enterprise in two months (!) Reached the level of 1996, when in the city of Achinsk, where AGK is a city-forming enterprise, there were 11 thousand unemployed and the city lived in a humanitarian catastrophe! Alumina supplies to TWG-controlled facilities plummeted, washing out AGC's working capital. Thus, N. Nasyrov, thanks to his Bolshevik method of leadership, only in the first two months caused damage to the plant in the amount of five million dollars. (Novaya Gazeta, 11/15/99)

In 1997, the British National Criminal Investigation Service (NCIS) conducted a special operation, code-named "Copperfield." As the Western press reported, the focus of the investigation was, in particular, an emigrant from the Soviet Union with an Israeli passport Lev Cherny. According to NCIS intelligence, he was a liaison between the British trading and intermediary company Trans World Group (TWG) and organized crime groups of the “Russian mafia”. During operational investigative measures, including wiretapping of Chernoy, he managed to identify his contacts with people involved in the international drug trafficking, and laundering large-scale criminal proceeds. In addition, according to British intelligence, a network of offshore companies created under the wing of TWG and managed by Black poses a potential threat to the economic security of the UK and any other state where the company has branches. Most of them, according to experts from Interpol and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), were created specifically to legalize capital of criminal origin ... (Moskovsky Komsomolets 12/23/98)

As a result, the intelligence service established ties between Chernykh and Vyacheslav Ivankov, who was imprisoned by the "godfather" of the American branch of the Russian mafia. It was found that 25% of all phone calls from the Trans-World office in London were made to explicit mafiosi related to money laundering, drug smuggling and precious stones. In Russia, one of the investigators established a connection between Chernykh and the transfer of proceeds from the sale of drugs and car thefts through retail trade to London. According to the investigator, the scope of these frauds was too large to compose a clear picture, according to the report on the operation Copperfield. The Minister of the Interior of the Russian Federation, in the absence of legislation on money laundering, requested assistance from the FBI

The new Minister of the Interior of Russia, Anatoly Kulikov, publicly announced in 1997 that he was expanding the Central Bank investigation into Leo and related parties. Kulikov also linked the aluminum trade with the Izmailovsky group, and stated that the group was under the control of Mikhail Cherny's friend, Anton Malevsky, who led it from Israel. He also stated that “practically all” KrAZ and BrAZz transactions were under the control of criminal groups.

In March 1998, Yeltsin removed Kulikov from his post, and two weeks later the new Minister of the Interior announced that Lev Cherny was no longer on suspicion as an accomplice in the theft of funds from the Central Bank.

Blacks were officially removed from suspicion of complicity in the Central Bank case because the Ministry of the Interior concluded that despite the fact that the scam was a group of people associated with organized crime, and despite the fact that Blacks clearly benefited from this There is no evidence that Black knew that the funds were stolen. These findings not only helped Leo return to Russia in an attempt (as is now clear, failed) to restore the collapsing Trans-World empire, but also stopped the investigation that could destroy Trans-World’s activities in Russia. Partially, Lev came out of suspicion thanks to the testimony of Gennady Druzhinin, one of the KrAZ leaders. Imagine our surprise when it turned out from banking documents that Trans-World had paid Druzhinin exactly one million dollars - and this was at a time when Trans-World was allegedly exhibited from KrAZ. (Fortune 06/12/00)

In the summer of 1998, L. Cherny moved to Russia, where he planned to stay permanently and hide from a possible criminal prosecution. Here he conducts an active PR campaign to create the image of a large businessman-patriot, a statesman, which would allow him to legalize himself and legalize his business. Millions of dollars are spent on paying for publications in the framework of this campaign in many central newspapers (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Trud, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Parliamentary Gazeta, etc.). In addition, Lev Cherny tried to use the opportunities of Berezovsky to enter the Russian establishment and even the presidential circle. However, having paid for Berezovsky’s purchase of the Kommersant publishing house (through a fund led by the man of Cherny Kia Dzhurabchian) and a controlling stake in TV-6, Cherny essentially did not receive anything in return, as politicians and senior officials tried to distance themselves from him before the election, not to be compromised by connections with such an odious person.

Relations between Cherny and Berezovsky did not go unnoticed. The Swiss prosecutor’s office, conducting an investigation into Berezovsky, also became interested in firms associated with Lev Cherny, and during the investigation, arrested one of their top managers David McNeill. Nevertheless, at present L. Cherny continues a public campaign, the main purpose of which is not only personal positioning in the ranks of the political elite, but also the introduction of his proteges in the structures of all branches of government at the federal and regional levels. The close ties of Lev Cherny with the top of organized crime and the origin of his capital give every reason to assume that he is fulfilling the task of ensuring the massive penetration of crime into power. (www.chernoi.nu)

Instead of an afterword:

Black's partner, David Ruben, likes to argue that Trans-World has "saved" Russia's aluminum industry, the only industry to increase productivity by 7% since 1989. In the midst of their influence, in 1997, according to Ruben, they "invested" approximately $ 400 million in these plants. The Russian Ministry of Economics calls a figure close to zero. In fact, Trans-World systematically kept one of the most viable sectors of the former Soviet Union on a starvation diet, giving the plants oxygen only so that they could work on their tolling racket, while the equipment was obsolete both mentally and physically. The 1997 BrAZ audit report shows $ 600 million in sales losses - this is for the world's largest aluminum smelter. Rubenov’s internal reporting for the same year suggests that Trans-World and plant management made nearly $ 200 million in profit.

In exactly the same way, the Rubens and Blacks gained control of one of the largest steel mills in Russia in 1995 - and by 1997 they pumped out about $ 300 million a year from it. When a group of American investors, including George Soros, announced. that they acquired approximately 50% of the plant’s shares, were not allowed on the board of directors and did not allow them to familiarize themselves with the company's trading contracts, although the court ruled in their favor. And no wonder - the plant’s profit (before tax) fell from $ 80 million in 1995 to $ 40 million in 1996, despite the strengthening of the steel market. (Fortune)

Property tax deductions for the purchase of housing: types and methods of registration 🏘 We continue a series of publications devoted to various tax deductions and the procedure for their registration. Earlier we talked about: social tax deductions professional tax deductions standard tax deductions This time we will consider property deductions, namely, a deduction for the purchase of housing, which is issued: For the purchase of an apartment, room or construction of a house; For repayment of interest, if you bought a home in a mortgage; To repay interest on refinancing loans for the construction or purchase of housing. Remember that the deduction is not provided if you: bought housing at the expense of employers, maternity capital or budget funds; bought property from a spouse or one of relatives; have exhausted their right to property deduction. The size of the tax deduction is determined by two main parameters: paid income tax; expenses when buying a home. When buying or building real estate, you can return up to 13% of the value of objects, but the maximum amount for deduction should not exceed 2 million rubles per person. That is, in one hand you can get no more than 260 thousand rubles. There are limitations, however. If the house was purchased before 2014, you can use the deduction once in a lifetime, and the purchase price does not matter. If a house was bought after January 1, 2014 and did not use the deduction earlier, then you can use it several times, but it is still strictly limited to 2 million rubles. For each year, you can return no more than you have transferred to the budget income tax. If you have not exercised the right to receive a deduction in full, its balance is carried forward to subsequent tax periods. That is, you can return the tax for several years, until you return the entire amount. If you took a home in a mortgage, it is important when it was issued. If before January 1, 2014, then the property deduction will cover the entire amount of interest, and if after - the interest deduction is limited to 3 million rubles, i.e. you can return a maximum of 390 thousand rubles. Also, since 2014, the maximum deduction is applied to the cost of acquiring both one or several real estate properties. The amount of benefits can be doubled if you buy an apartment in marriage - then both spouses have the right to return 13% of the cost of housing purchased. If you acquired the property in common ownership before January 1, 2014, the property deduction is due to each co-owner depending on the share, if after - the amount of the deduction depends on the actual expenses incurred by each owner within the total limit. We will tell you about property deductions for the sale of housing in one of the following publications. The procedure for obtaining a deduction when applying to the employer, as well as a list of additional costs that are taken into account when calculating the property tax deduction, see our infographics.

Leo belongs to predatory mammals and is a representative of the panther genus from the subfamily of large cats. Today, the lion is one of the largest cats, and the average weight of the male of some subspecies is 250 kg or more.

Subspecies of predatory animal

In the earliest classifications, twelve main subspecies of the lion were traditionally distinguished, and the Barbarian lion was considered the largest. The main distinguishing features of the subspecies were represented by the size and appearance of the mane. A slight difference in this characteristic, as well as the possibility of individual intraspecific variability, allowed scientists to abolish the preliminary classification.

As a result, it was decided to leave only eight main subspecies of the lion:

• asiatic subspecies, better known as a Persian or Indian lion, characterized by a rather squat body and not too thick mane;
• a Barbary or Barbarian lion completely exterminated by man, having a massive body and dark-colored, thick mane;
• senegalese or West African lion, a characteristic feature of which is a fairly light coat, medium-sized body and a small or completely absent mane;
• the North Congolese lion is a rather rare species with a large external resemblance to other African relatives, a species of predator belonging to the cat family;
• masai or East African lion, characterized by elongated limbs and a peculiar, as if "combed" back mane;
• a southwestern African or Katangan lion, having a very characteristic for the subspecies, light staining over the entire surface of the body;
• a subspecies extinct at the end of the nineteenth century - the Cape lion.

But the white individuals and black Lion. Of course, white lions are not a subspecies, but belong to the category of wild animals with a genetic disease - leukism, causing a characteristic light coat color. Such individuals with a very original coloration are found in the territory of the Kruger National Park, as well as in the Timbavati reserve, located in the eastern part of South Africa. White and golden lions are called albinos and leucists. The existence of black lions still causes much controversy and is called into question by scientists.

Black lion in nature - theory and practice

The phenomenon of albinism, expressed in uncharacteristic white staining, is known to be opposed to melanism, which is most often observed in the population of leopards and jaguars. This phenomenon makes possible the birth of individuals with an unusual black coat.

Wild animals-melanists are rightfully considered to be peculiar aristocrats in the world of natural conditions. Such an animal acquires black staining due to the presence of an excessive amount of melanin in the skin. High levels of dark pigment can be found in various animal species, including mammals, arthropods and reptiles. From this point of view, black lionit may well be born, both in natural or natural conditions, and in captivity.

As a rule, melanism is caused by adaptation processes, so the individual acquires an uncharacteristic black color in order to survive and be able to reproduce in the presence of adverse external factors.

It is interesting!   Due to the manifestation of melanism, some species of animals can become almost invisible to predators, while for other species this feature gives some advantages and helps to hunt more successfully at night.

Among other things, it must be borne in mind that melanin plays an important role in the health of the animal, due to the ability of pigments to absorb a significant amount of ultraviolet radiation and prevent radiation damage. Also, scientists have found that such animals have maximum endurance and are perfectly adapted to life in adverse conditions, therefore black lion in nature   could have survived.

Is there a black lion

Among the most common mammals, the appearance of black color is most often observed in the feline family. Well-known in nature and studied by many scientists, leopards, cougars and jaguars, whose body is covered with black wool.

Such animals are called "black panthers". Approximately half of the entire leopard population living in Malaysia has such a black coloring that is unusual for the species. A significant number of black-colored individuals inhabit the Malacca Peninsula and the island of Java, as well as the Aberder Ridge in central Kenya.

Black lion photo which is often found on the Internet, could live in low light conditions, where a dark animal will be the least noticeable. Studies of almost fifteen years ago, published in New Scientist, confirm the fact that melanism may be necessary for the animal's body to increase resistance to pathogenic microorganisms.

Pigment features are thought to provide feline predators with immunity to most viral infections. Perhaps if the black lion was captured on video, then it would be much easier to establish the truth about its distribution.

Black Lion - Exposing

The confidence of cryptozoologists in the existence of black lions, to date, is not confirmed by any documentary facts. In their opinion, black lions, whose population is only 2 on earthmay well inhabit Persia and Okovango. However, taking into account the fact that dark-colored animals less adapted to hunting in the shroud cannot get enough food for themselves, the probability of their distribution is zero.

The confirmation of the fact of the existence of such lions by the presence of images of a black predator on the arms or in the names of English pubs is also very peculiar. Following this logic, in vivo also should exist lions with blue, green or red coloring. As for the pictures of the black lion, which in a short period of time have collected countless views on the Internet and caused indescribable delight of fans of everything unusual, they are just another and very successful photoshop.

The lion is an intelligent, strong and very dangerous predator, a thunderstorm of deserts and savannahs. Many of us associate this beautiful and proud animal with one that inspires fear in everyone, but is not afraid of anyone. We are used to seeing these muscular big cats with a red mane and golden hair, but more and more photos with dark animals have recently appeared. It looks unusual, so many people are interested in: is this a real beast or the artful work of Photoshop?

Do not think that in the natural habitat there are only lionesses and lions with a reddish color, in the savannah you can often find predators with a former mane and skin, there are also cats with beige hair and Nature sometimes rewards animals with the most unimaginable colors and shades. All this is due to genetic mutations. If there are leucists and albinos, then why cannot there be such a thing as a black lion?

Melanism is opposed to albinism, so it is likely that both white and dark animals can exist. Scientists from different countries unanimously refute the fact that a black lion exists. In their opinion, this is impossible not at the genetic level, but in terms of survival. Mutation experts explain that dark-colored individuals did not survive during evolution, so now you can not even hope that a dark lion cub will appear. Even if we assume that he will be born in the wild, then most likely the animal will not survive.

The black lion suffers from a violation of thermoregulation, it has reduced immunity, and there are some difficulties when hunting. If the animal is born in captivity, then people will help him survive, but in his natural habitat he has practically no chance. Despite the fact that scientists answered the question in detail, setting forth their own point of view, many people still ask themselves: "Do black lions exist?" and "Where can I see them?"

Cryptozoologists disagree with the researchers, they believe that dark individuals can still be found in the wild. In support of their point of view, there were reports from the African continent, namely from the Okovango area, and from Persia that they saw black lions. Both territories have similarities in one - they are covered with stunted trees and shrubs. This landscape allows predators with dark hair to hide from the scorching sun and hide when hunting.

In Okovango, a whole pride of dark lions was found, but they cannot be called black. They differ from ordinary ones in dark brown color. Scientists do not recognize that this is a consequence of melanism, but agree on the thoughts of closely related crosses. This color is fixed, because predators live in the forest.

The black lion is today the dream of cryptozoologists. They believe that dark individuals are in the African bush or savannah, but so far no one can find them. If a melanist lion were found, it would be easier for researchers to study the evolution of the species. Scientists can only hope that a black miracle will someday be born in a zoo.

Lions, according to many people, are one of the most beautiful animals in the cat family. The word "lion" in humans, in most cases, is associated with something strong, powerful, wise and noble. In nature, there are lions and lionesses endowed with nature with a special color and coloring. In the savannah you can find lions with white skin and mane. There are lions with blue eyes and the color of the skin and mane from light beige to golden color. All the variety of colors can be explained by mutations at the genetic level. White and golden lions are called albinos and leucists. Scientists question the existence of black lions on the planet.

The scientist Clark Tonj, who specializes in mutations among large cats, explained this theory of the existence of black lions by the fact that dark-colored individuals did not survive in the process of evolution of lions and, therefore, the possibility of their existence in our time is unlikely. If in the wild, a lion cub with a black skin and a mane is born, then in any case it is unlikely that it will survive, since such processes as weak immunity, violation of thermoregulation and difficulties encountered during hunting will contribute to its death. Biologists believe that a lion with black hair will not be able to survive in the wild. If such a lion is born in captivity, the likelihood that he will live is high enough. Despite all the statements of scientists, cryptozoologists believe that black lions can exist in nature. Some of the cryptozoologists are even sure of this. In Persia and Africa, residents claimed to have seen black lions.

In the photo above, most likely photoshop.

It is worth noting that science does not stand still, and manipulations on the DNA of lions are quite real, followed by a change in their color.