The Unintended Consequences of Cecil the Lion

[Regolith]

Culling is almost never "real" hunting.

Yup; culls are usually done by professionals who don't give a rat's ass about "fair chase". They have a job to do and they'll do it as efficiently as possible, because they don't have time for anything else.

[BlueStarLizzard]

On a serious note, there's no reason PETA and other organizations (or even individual SJWs) can't put their money where their mouth is, outbid the hunters, and yeah, pay to have professionals tranq the animals and transport them to a preserve purchased or leased by said SJWs, where the animals could live out their lives. It's easier to just have a big mouth though.

Except PETA thinks that confining an animal is abusive, so they've already manufactured their out for having to put their money where their mouth is.

The reason the Cecil issue got so blown up is that they managed to find a hunter with both a questionable past (in regards with his hunting practices) and some questionable guides who were intentionally luring lions off the preserve in order to get their client a kill*. In other words, the outraged types managed to find a shady example to demonize a practice they hate anyway and went with it.



*Too me it sounded like a lazy version of a canned hunt, with the guides using the preserve as their very own can.

[charby]

At least Cecil was still protecting his cubs and such.

No, the lioness normally protects the cubs, males will harass or kill cubs. Remember most animals it is rest, sex, fight or flight. of

I have been looking into a African hunt and most hunts are captive bred animals that have been released into a very large enclosure, like 100,000 acre ranches. The animals are very much wild and the dangerous ones will still kill you just as quick as truly wild ones on a game refuge national park.

My uncle shot a captive bred lion a few years ago, I watched the video of him shooting the lion a second time before it tried to eat him, the PH and the trackers. The lion was seven years old and lived its entire life on the preserve, it wasn't fed and it and the pride is was part of ate whatever animals lived on the preserve. No one tossed out meat or turned goats loose for the lions to eat.

[TommyGunn]

No, the lioness normally protects the cubs, males will harass or kill cubs. Remember most animals it is rest, sex, fight or flight.
............

Male lions usually only kill cubs when they take over the pride upon the death or eviction of the Alpha male.  It is instinctive to want to perpetuate their own genes.
The  males often tolerate cubs but the  females will always be a bit antsy when their cute little tykes get too playful.

[BlueStarLizzard]

No, the lioness normally protects the cubs, males will harass or kill cubs. Remember most animals it is rest, sex, fight or flight. of

I have been looking into a African hunt and most hunts are captive bred animals that have been released into a very large enclosure, like 100,000 acre ranches. The animals are very much wild and the dangerous ones will still kill you just as quick as truly wild ones on a game refuge national park.

My uncle shot a captive bred lion a few years ago, I watched the video of him shooting the lion a second time before it tried to eat him, the PH and the trackers. The lion was seven years old and lived its entire life on the preserve, it wasn't fed and it and the pride is was part of ate whatever animals lived on the preserve. No one tossed out meat or turned goats loose for the lions to eat.

I would think that the captive bred would be more dangerous to humans than the truly wild ones, depending on how much human contact they've had, for the same reason that feral domestic animals are.

[HankB]

I have been looking into a African hunt and most hunts are captive bred animals that have been released into a very large enclosure, like 100,000 acre ranches. The animals are very much wild and the dangerous ones will still kill you just as quick as truly wild ones on a game refuge national park.

Depends largely on which country you're looking at - when I hunted Zimbabwe and Zambia, there were no fences around, and we had to be aware of park boundaries; hunt outside the park, and you're golden; hunt INSIDE the park, and you have a problem. In each of those countries, an armed game scout accompanied us both to be sure we adhered to the law, and to arrest any poachers we might come across.

[Firethorn]

No, the lioness normally protects the cubs, males will harass or kill cubs. Remember most animals it is rest, sex, fight or flight. of

Actually, "Dad" ends up being the babysitter in lion prides a lot.  He'll only seriously kill cubs if they aren't his.  IE the new male of a pride will kill the existing cubs.  Cubs born AFTER his takeover, he'll protect.

I'm not saying that he'll never kill one of his own, but it's relatively rare.  That's why Cecil's death was considered something of a death sentence for his cubs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp9BHsiGw5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZYu2WCx5s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNbDcNVqxw


Oh, the cubs are so scared...

Depends largely on which country you're looking at - when I hunted Zimbabwe and Zambia, there were no fences around, and we had to be aware of park boundaries; hunt outside the park, and you're golden; hunt INSIDE the park, and you have a problem. In each of those countries, an armed game scout accompanied us both to be sure we adhered to the law, and to arrest any poachers we might come across.

That's one of the things about the Dentist, and why they ended up releasing him without charges - he did what he was supposed to.  It was his guides that screwed up.

[charby]

Actually, "Dad" ends up being the babysitter in lion prides a lot.  He'll only seriously kill cubs if they aren't his.  IE the new male of a pride will kill the existing cubs.  Cubs born AFTER his takeover, he'll protect.

I'm not saying that he'll never kill one of his own, but it's relatively rare.  That's why Cecil's death was considered something of a death sentence for his cubs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp9BHsiGw5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLZYu2WCx5s


Oh, the cubs are so scared...

I was confusing African Lion behavior with other large cat behavior.

So sans hunting, how often does the alpha male of the pride turned over?