Unlike the plains dwelling lion of today, the Barbary Lion occupied the woodlands of the mountainous system of the Great and Little Atlas. It was separated geographically from other lion populations almost entirely by deserts on the south, south-east, and east.

The Barbary Lion shared this range with 2 other predators now extinct as well - the Barbary Leopard and the Atlas Bear.  Sadly, there are no reports of the Atlas Bear  existing even in captivity.  The last known Barbary Leopard, which was in captivity in the US, passed away early in 1999.