Lions(Pantheraleo)playacrucialecologicalroleinshapingandmaintainingfragileecosystemswithinAfrica.Conservationeffortsshouldfocusongeneticvariabilitywithinwildpopulationswhenconsideringreintroductionattempts.WestudiedtwogroupsoflionsfromtwoconservationsiteslocatedinZambiaandZimbabwetodeterminetheirgeneticmake-up,informationthatisusuallyunknowntothesites.Inthisstudy,weanalysed17specimensforcytbandsevenmicrosatellitemarkerstoascertainfamilyrelationshipsandgeneticdiversitypreviouslyobtainedbyobservationalstudies.Wethenproducedastandardisedhaplogroupphylogenyusingallavailableentiremitogenomes,aswell