Probably more recent than that. They were around in Iran until the 1940s, and in upper Mesopotamia near the Turkey/Iraq/Syria tripoint until the turn of the 19th century. I could not find when the last lion in Armenia was killed, but given that they were still present fairly close to Armenia until recently, the last lions in Armenia were probably wiped out around the same time.
Following up on this, I found a source suggesing the last lions in Caucausia lived in the period between 1600-1850. Specifically:
At the end of the 19th century, Blanford (1876) indicated that lions had
become extinct innorthernIran, but were still living in Mesopotamia on
the western Zagros spurs and southeast of Shiraz. The Persian lion,
P. leo persica Meyer, 1826, was described from a Teheran specimen,
i.e., from northwestern Iran.
Chardin records that lions and tigers still inhabited the forests of
Mingrelia and Imeretia at the beginning of the 17th century (1735, p.51).
Chopin (1852), who lived in Armenia, stated that during his lifetime lions
were no longer observed there, but tigers were occasionally seen wandering
from the Araks River.
Mammals of the Caucauses, 1959.
Imretia and Mingrelia were historic regions in Georgia. Chopin's 1850 account suggests that they were extinct in the region at that point, but they were still living in or near Armenia in the 1600s per that first mention. Not having the original source, I would guess that they became extinct in the region not long before Chopin was born if he was wording it that way.
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u/Original_Feed_2910 2d ago
Lions in Armenia??? ðŸ˜