Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: NHHEMI
Rather than start a new thread on this I am going to add it here. While this isn't about the dentist, or even how Cecil was shot, it IS relevant as it took place in the same refuge and it shows just how dangerous Lions are. I hope this adds some perspective to some folks views here( in general ). Although I bet the animal rights groups will applaud this Lion killing the man as some kind of payback for Cecil's death.
All these people talking about the poor Lion( media and in this thread )seem clueless about how dangerous they really are. It truly is the Bambi syndrome. The way they talked about Cecil the Lion made him sound like some kind of tame house cat, or they put him up on some pedestal of animal nobility, and it is just ridiculous.
A photography tour guide was mauled and killed by a Lion in the same refuge Cecil was from. This could have been Cecil himself in other circumstances. Lions are not cute, cuddly, kittens nor are the noble, royal, animals. They are vicious predators who will kill anyone or anything with no provocation and at the drop of a hat. So while people can be upset at Cecil's death let's keep some perspective on just what Cecil was. People that live around Lions know. The rest of the world seems clueless.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/25/africa/zimbabwe-safari-guide-killed-by-lion/
Should we exterminate all predators then, even though they serve a purpose in their respective ecosystems (keeping the balance, population control, the way nature intended)? Should we kill everything that's scary, dangerous, or not cute?
I don't think people were upset because they were planning to adopt Cecil as a house cat. I think most people know lions are dangerous.
If you are a tour guide in a park featuring wild predators, guess what might happen? Hopefully a human can consider and weigh the risks of doing a job that can be dangerous. If it weren't for the dangerous animals, the tour guide's job wouldn't have existed! Who wants to take a tour of a wildlife park with nothing in it? It sucks for the tour guide, but if you play with fire... I certainly don't wish it on him, but hopefully he knew the risks of what he was doing.
People make choices, animals follow instincts. Big difference.
Your post is the exact type of overreaction so typical in this entire thread. No where did I advocate exterminating all predators nor adopting Lions like kittens. I want people to use their common sense and wake up to the fact this was a savage, brutal, predator not some Disney character out of the Lion King. People are treating that Lion as something more than what it was. It is the Disney movie syndrome. They see that Lion almost like a character out of the Lion King. The same way people see Deer here in the US in a way influenced by the movie Bambi. Totally unrealistic. If you think I am wrong you haven't been yelled at by anti hunters accusing you of shooting "Bambi" or some other Disney character.
Those movies are not an accurate representation of wildlife. They make people see them as things they are not. Especially Lions. Lions are not majestic, noble, regal animals. They are brutal, vicious, killers that would take out a human without a second thought. People either forget that or just don't know it.
People are outraged over what happened due to moral objections to hunting period and also because they have elevated that Lion to something it is not. Their emotions are in play and not their brains. The objections and levels of vitriol go far beyond what actually happened.
Don't misunderstand I am 100%
AGAINST poaching. Anyone in that incident who knowingly took place in luring that Lion out of a protected area into a legal area to harvest it should be prosecuted. That is where my indignation ends though. I don't have objections to legal hunting as so many do( and that is ultimately behind their anger )nor do I start talking about the poor Lion and how majestic they are and so on. The fact this particular Lion had a name given to it in the refuge is another reason people are elevating that Lion's importance. We wouldn't have heard much of anything about it if it was a different Lion. But oh boy, it was Cecil so the world is in an uproar. The fact it was Cecil makes it no more or less wrong and tragic.
I also know that given the chance that Lion would have taken out humans without pause just as the one in the link I provided did( and in the exact same preserve Cecil was in ). There ARE people who would be shocked if that happened. I can hear it now..." I can't believe Cecil did that...he was such a noble and peaceful animal". People these days have no clue about wildlife and how savage it can be. I was trying to add some perspective to peoples rants is all.
The hunter had all his paperwork in order and was legally hunting. I have seen no proof he was aware of any illegal acts and when he took the Lion he thought he was doing so legally. He is not going to be prosecuted. The guide it appears illegally lured the Lion out of the preserve to a place the hunter could take it yet there is no proof the hunter knew he was doing it. So this whole story is blown out of proportion and is very misleading( as is the norm with today's media manipulating the facts to suit their agendas ). Cecil has become more than just a Lion that was poached( which is awful - again don't misunderstand me and take my comments as apathy ). People have emotionalized this whole thing and it is out of control.