Every lion is different, much in the same way that humans are. Nature and nurture act to change our physical appearance, and we are born with our own unique set of fingerprints. Lions are no different. They vary in shape and size and acquire scars and injuries throughout their lives. Lions also have their own 'fingerprints' - on both sides of a lion's face you can find rows of dark 'whisker spots', forming a pattern that is unique to each lion. By studying this arrangement of spots, we can distinguish between individual lions. Whilst a lion may acquire new injuries and scars and change with age, this pattern remains the same from birth.

We do not need to use the whole whisker spot pattern to ID a lion. If you look closely, you may see one or more oddly placed spots lying above the top row of whiskers. We call these odd spots row A, and the complete line below them row B. By working out whether the spots on row A lie above or behind the spots on row B, we can give each lion a blueprint and a whisker code.

Of course, we can use other features of a lion for identification. Age, mane development and prominent scars and injuries, such as ear notches and broken teeth, all help us work out who's who. Lions are also territorial and often form close affiliations with others within their pride. It is important to remember though that scars fade, and lions gain new injuries often. Using the whisker spot pattern is the only way to be 100% sure of a lion's identity.