The Amoudou documentary team has concluded its journey in search of the Atlas lion in the Khénifra region after confirming that the traces observed belong to a “hyena.”
Last night marked the end of a venture that the documentary team had pinned hopes on for realizing their dream of discovering the Atlas lion in Morocco. Despite the National Agency for Water and Forests providing detailed explanations on the matter, the team continued their pursuit.
The agency dispelled all the speculations circulating recently regarding the presence of the Atlas lion in the Khénifra region, conducting extensive combing operations and pinpointing traces that were conclusively identified as belonging to the “canine” family.
Following this clarification, the Amoudou team persisted in their search before releasing a statement yesterday stating that “the documentary team conducted an extensive week-long reconnaissance and an exhaustive search campaign, unfortunately yielding no results regarding the presence of the Atlas lion in the Khénifra region.”
The statement expressed regret for the inability to document any of the recently observed predators that sparked varied reactions. The reasons cited included the vast and rugged terrain of the Atlas Mountains and its dense forests, requiring extensive equipment, numerous teams, and significant time, along with logistical preparations not readily available to everyone, including the program’s team.
Hussein Fawzi, the program’s executive director, stated, “The search journey undertaken by the program in the Khénifra region for the Atlas lion officially concluded yesterday.”
Through the conducted research, the team confirmed that the reported attack was attributed to a hyena. The initial assumption was crucial, considering that lion attacks are typically at the neck level. However, eyewitness accounts and evidence prompted the team to persist in their search at that time.
The Amoudou documentary team’s pursuit may have concluded without capturing the elusive Atlas lion, but the exploration shed light on the challenges of documenting wildlife in the remote and challenging terrains of the Atlas Mountains.