?Can you adopt a lion? If lions are your favourite animal you can adopt a lion for a one off payment that includes a cuddly lion toy, an adoption certificate, a lion fact sheet and the name of the adopter displayed at the lion enclosure.
?What noise do lions make? Both male and female lions roar. They usually start off with a few long, deep roars followed by shorter, faster ones. Lions also make other noises. They meow, hiss and snarl, like domestic cats, but louder.
Hunting lions for fun
Facing a lion in the African savanna was an experience of a life time. From that day your life would change forever. Hunting a lion was traditional, fun, and dangerous. The question is, why did the warriors hunt lions?
Lion hunt was a traditiona and historical practice that played an important role in the Maasai culture. The practice was different from trophy hunting; it was symbolically a rite of passage rather than a hobby.
The Maasai tribe saw lion hunting experience as a sign of bravery and personal achievement. In the past, when the lion population was high, the community encouraged solo lion hunt. However, over the last several years, due to the decline of the lion population, mainly because of rabies and canine distemper virus, the community adapted a new rule that encouraged warriors to hunt in groups instead of solo lion hunt. Group hunting, known in Maasai as olamayio, gave the lion population a chance to grow.
According to Maasai customary laws, the warriors were not allowed to hunt a lion, suffering from drought, snared or poison. The Maasai believed that female lions are the bearers of life in every species. As a matter of fact, it was prohibited to hunt a female lion-- unless the lioness posed threat to livestock or human life.
The Maasai well understood that lions are important to the savanna's ecology. For that reason, the Maasai took extra caution when it comes to lion hunt. The Maasai warriors did not just go out and hunt lions because they can. The rules were there and were followed by every warrior.
Lion hunting experience allowed the Maasai warriors to show off their fighting ability on a non-human target. At the end of each age-set, usually after 10-15 years, the warriors would count all the lions hunted, then compared with those hunted by the previous age-set. The purpose was to compare the number of lions hunted between previous and current age-set.
Empikas ( lion hunting delegation) planned for lion hunt a few days before. The planning was done in a secret manner. No one in the community, other than the warriors, should know about the day for lion hunt. The practice was so secret that Ilbarnot (junior warriors) from the same age-set were denied information regarding the lion hunt. Senior warriors feared that junior warriors would immaturely leak out information to groups that opposed to lion hunting practice. When a warrior spread rumors and found guilty, his colleagues would punish him in the form of beating. In addition, the betrayer would be looked down upon by age mates for years to come.
It was not easy to hunt a lion alone. However, many Maasai warriors did it. Solo lion hunting required confidence and advance hunting skills. A warrior must be passionate about the game. Unlike group hunting, solo lion hunting usually happened at random; for example, when the warrior was out herding cattle.
The lion hunting journey started at dawn, when elders and women were still asleep. The warriors sneaked out of the village in order to avoid discouragement from elders and women. The warriors would meet at a nearby landmark, for example, a tree, hill or rock. From here, the warriors departed to a predetermined area, where lions were most likely found. The warriors usually located lions by tracking them using footprints, animal droping and/ or vultures..
A few minutes before departure, the warriors must go through a sorting process that seperate junior warriors from senior warriors. In the warrior tradition seniority have the decision making powers. Ilmorijo (senior warriors) must select a group of qualified comrades with elaborate hunting skills. The selected group was considered mature, strong and capable to face a lion. The group was known as Ilmeluaya (fearless warriors) who were ready to die or live.
The rejects, junior warriors, are commanded by senior warriors to keep the lion hunting information confidential, until their colleagues return home from hunting. Also, there have been cases whereby senior warriors forced junior warriors to give up their spears and shields. This was an insult to junior warriors, as extra weapons were not necessarily needed to hunt a lion. One spear was sufficient to bring a lion down. The attitude of forcing junior warriors to give up their weapons was a measure to encourage them to be a little more responsible.
The success of lion hunting brought excitement and gratitude to the entire community. The achievement was perceived as individual bravery. The community honored Olmurani lolowuaru (the lion hunter) with much respect throughout his lifetime. The hunter would also receive a nickname, for example, Miseyieki, from his colleagues. Miseyieki means no one will ever dare to mess with him. When the warriors attend ceremonies in other communities, they would praise their colleague through songs and dance.
The lions were abundant throughout Maasailand. Their typical hideouts were grassy plains and deep in the forests. The lion search ranges from 20 minutes to 10 hours. The Maasai warriors must chase a lion with rattle bells and make him upset. This chasing game irritated, angered, and forced a lion to face the hunters. Another successful lion hunting method was to force a lion to leave a kill. Any of these methods would provoke a fight with a lion.
Fighting a lion inside the woodland savannah can be extremely challenging and dangerous. The lion is very smart and can maneuver through the bushes faster than a human being. As a result, the Maasai warriors preferred to fight lions in the open plains. By doing so, the warrior gave a lion a chance to fight. Lion hunting was all about challenging another creature without cheating. Facing a lion in the open savanna was a remarkable challenge.
The lion tail was stretched and soften by the warriors, then hand it over to the village women for beading. The warriors would receive the tail back when the beading was done. The warriors would keep and guide the lion's tail in their manyatta (warriors' camp), until the end of warrior hood. The lion tail was the most valuable product in the practice of lion hunting. After graduation, a group of warriors would come together and pay their last special respect to all the lion tails collected during moran hood. The lion tails were thrown away after the eunoto ceremony.
The lion hunting game was about group and individual commitment, strength, goal and dedication. The game was based on your personal background, environment and culture. The warriors did not need to attend a gym, nor a rifle for lion hunting. All you needed was one spear and one shield. Many warriors have been lost to lions. At the same time many lions have been lost to warriors.
Note: Kindly do not try ideas, strategies, and tools shared in this chapter. Information given here is not a manual for lion hunting. Instead, the information shared here is for learning purposes. Once more, lion hunting was an activity of the past. With the rise of conservation groups in the Maasai region lion hunters have been converted to become lion guardians. Local problems requires local solutions.
Losing cattle to lions is a tragedy to a Maasai family. Maasai income comes, solemnly, from the cows. Therefore, protecting the cows from lions has always been a matter of grave concern to every Maasai.
The practice of lion hunting and other wildlife has been banned in East Africa. Unless, of course, if you are wealthy enough to join the Western Hunters Club who pay an enormous amount of money to hunt lions for trophy. Otherwise, lion hunting has been outlawed in East Africa.
Male lions become a member of the pride because the females accept them as the pride male. Therefore, their social status can can be precarious. The lion has to win the grace of the females and usually will only be able to remain the pride male 3 to 5 years in the wild. 4
African lions hunt and consume large animals they find in the grasslands they inhabit. These animals include zebras, wildebeest and antelopes. The male lion requires 7-kilograms of food daily and the female can survive on 5-kilos.
Ancient Egyptians held lions in high esteem as their war deities because of the power, strength and fierceness lions possess. The sphinxes in Egypt are a fine example of the age old depiction of lions in Egyptian culture. The lion head also appears in many pieces of art from ancient times as well in pieces of jewelry.
He fired with his gun's right barrel, "the bullet going through both lungs," and then with the left, "the bullet entering between the neck and shoulder and piercing his heart," Roosevelt wrote. A third volley from another member of the hunting party brought down the great animal, "just thirteen paces from where we stood," according to Roosevelt.
The slaughtering of large, dangerous animals as a spectacle dates back thousands of years, with records from the Assyrian empire (about 4,000 years ago to around 600 B.C.) describing kings that boasted of killing elephants, ibex, ostriches, wild bulls and lions, according to a study published in 2008 in the journal Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Even today, acquiring trophy animals is a way of displaying power, Kalof noted. In some African countries, where big-game hunting and trophy display are expensive forms of entertainment practiced predominantly by white men, hunting recalls ideologies that are deeply rooted in colonialism and patriarchy, Kalof said.
And then there's the money involved. Legal hunting, which is conducted under the supervision of government agencies and official guides, involves expensive permits and is limited to specific animal populations and only in certain areas. Illegal poaching, on the other hand, circumvents all regulations and targets animals regardless of their age, sex, or endangered status. 2ff7e9595c
Comentários