In 2019, a male Asiatic lion named Kamran was transferred from Bristol Zoo Gardens in England to Tehran Zoological Gardens, also known as Eram Zoo. The move was a zoo-based conservation transfer, not the return of a wild lion population to Iran.
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The 2019 transfer from Bristol Zoo
Contemporary reporting from May 2019 identified the lion as Kamran and described his arrival in Tehran. Later reports used the names Herman or Hirman. These names refer to the same animal, not separate lions.
The transfer was associated with coordinated zoo breeding and animal-management programmes. It should not be described as a release into the wild or evidence that wild Asiatic lions had been restored to Iran.
Tehran’s Eram Zoo received Kamran in 2019. This article documents that historical arrival; it does not establish the lion’s present health, location or public-viewing availability.
Asiatic lions in the wild and in zoos
Asiatic lions historically ranged beyond India, including parts of Iran, but there is no established wild population in Iran today. The surviving wild Asiatic lion population is concentrated in Gujarat, India.
Asiatic and African lions belong to the same species, Panthera leo, but represent distinct geographic populations. A captive transfer alone cannot demonstrate that former habitats are suitable for reintroduction.
The lion in Iranian history and symbolism
Lions have a long place in Iranian art and royal imagery, including motifs associated with ancient Iranian dynasties. Their cultural significance is separate from the modern conservation status of the species.
The Persian word shir means “lion”. Similar-sounding place names, however, should not be given speculative etymologies without linguistic evidence. For wider cultural context, see our Shiraz guide.
The Lion and Sun emblem appeared in Iranian heraldry for centuries and featured on the national flag before 1979. This symbolism is distinct from the 2019 zoo transfer.
2019 photo archive
So he is a copy without any real parents birth how we can say its an Iranian lion after 80 years of extinction ? 50 generations of the same kind must mate untill you can say this lion is a pure Iranian lion
The kings in iran hunted allll the lions but Luckily There’s some Persian lions left, although they are not in iran they do exist in India (maybe they brought them there at the time when India was part of iran)
The Europeans took a lot of lions from India into their zoos. The persian lion was also found in India. And its still found in indian jungles. So this lion is one of those lions who’s parents were caught from Indian jungles and sent to European zoos.
Don’t forget to mention British occupiers hunting these creatures to their last numbers.