Marozi

This article is a stub.

This article is shorter than it should be. You can help the Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology by expanding it with relevant information.

Marozi The male marozi skin acquired by Michael Trent in 1931. Flash photography made the spots appear more pronounced than they were in life. Category Mystery cat Proposed scientific names Panthera leo maculatus (Pocock, 1937) Other names Abasambo, bakanga, bung-bung, foulempou, ikimizi, ruturargo, spotted lion Country reported Kenya First reported 1931 Prominent investigators • Kenneth Gandar-Dower • G. Hamilton-Snowball • Bernard Heuvelmans

The marozi (Kikuyu: "solitary lion"; Panthera leo maculatus) or spotted lion was a mystery cat reported from the montane forests of Kenya, particularly the Aberdare Range, allegedly distinguished from other lions (Panthera leo) by its smaller size, spotted coat, and habitat. Lions are born with spotted coats, and some rare individuals retain their spots into adulthood, but the boldness of the marozi's spots, and its distinct habitat and behaviour, suggest to some cryptozoologists that it is either an unrecognised subspecies or an emergent species. It is one of a number of spotted, lion-like mystery cats reported from the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Rwanda, and Ethiopia, which are collectively termed forest lions.