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First time here in a few years. I remember that the last time the questions had to be specific to what I was looking for but I don't wanna swamp anyone with too much info, so I'll endeavour to be lean and comprehensive at the same time.

I'm creating a fantasy world, and I would like there to be Lions and Hyenas in a medieval-like European setting until they died out. (I know right, original but it's what I like). I want to believe that lovers of classic fantasy are not extinct yet like our animal friends are. Anyway, back to the topic.

I know that both Hyenas and lions used to occupy Europe somewhere before medieval times until they went extinct. My question is what kind of biome would they occupy, hunt, and survive in most effectively. As there were no savannahs in the western parts of Euroasia. There are no savannahs in my world, as the most southern part of the country is temperate in climate at best.

I have planned steppe-like grasslands that attach to frozen marshes to the north of the country. Also, the south would have rolling hills and soft earth for vineyards and orchards, surrounded by long-dead volcanic mountains.

Somewhere in the middle, there'd be a forest, but those would be scattered anywhere in the country.

To the east are mountains and the country there is elevated and rugged. If you think that other types of biomes would be more appropriate as the natural habitat I'd appreciate the suggestion. Thanks for reading.

Yorshka
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  • I think that the usual natural habitat for lions is svannah like grasslands. – M. A. Golding Sep 23 '21 at 18:26
  • Yeah sorry i forgot to add that in, my world has no savannahs, it does have grasslands tho. – Yorshka Sep 23 '21 at 18:36
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    Lions survived in south-eastern Europe well into historical times. You can easily look up the natural conditions at the indicated places; they cover just about everything from flat grassy steppe to forested rolling hills and low mountains. That Nemea place where Hercules did battle with the terrible man-eating lion is the Peloponnese, just south of the Isthmus of Corinth. (With hyaenas the problem is that in Europe we have wolves.) – AlexP Sep 23 '21 at 18:38
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    If you make yourself a climate map using the tools on worldbuilding resources, it'll be easier to project where they might be able to roam during the seasonal variations - and project natural disasters (forest fires, human encroachment etc.) which might force them from that range. – Escaped dental patient. Sep 23 '21 at 18:54

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Cave lions!

lion habita

aka Panthera spelaea or the European Cave Lion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panthera_spelaea

Spotted hyaenas!

hyaenas

Were the Late Pleistocene climatic changes responsible for the disappearance of the European spotted hyena populations? Hindcasting a species geographic distribution across time

Spotted hyaenas and cave lions were all over Europe!

Cave lions had a longer European history than African-type (Panthera leo) lions, which also occurred in southern Europe through historical times. Cave lions were likely already extinct by then.

The linked article notes that hyaenas currently inhabit warm African plains, but makes the case that this is a flexible species and that their European habitats were cooler and drier than a lot of places they currently inhabit. Note the Irish hyaena on the map! Hyaenas were probably anywhere that they could get food, and they persisted in Europe longer than a lot of Pleistocene fauna. I wonder if they really were outcompeted by wolves. They definitely overlapped with wolves.

The cave lions were everywhere. The wikipedia article puts them in steppe but notes they lived in boreal forest too. They had a huge range clear thru Siberia to Alaska.

I would make your cave lions be solitary or a female with cubs, possibly with wide ranges like a wolverine. The hyaenas are in packs, competing and sometimes coexisting with wolf packs throughout their range.

Here an African wild dog is playing the role of wolf.

dog and wolf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmTgWwyNizM

My proposal is that your medieval society was planted and cultivated in the mid Pleistocene by a time traveler. Outside their area the fauna is that of Pleistocene europe with cave lions, hyaenas (cave hyaenas and spotted hyaenas), mammoths. Neanderthals are the main human species outside of your colonized area. There may be less well known creatures too.

sorcerer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorcerer_(cave_art)

Willk
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