During the summer of 2005, while serving my master's internship outside of =
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, I had an interesting "run-in" with a lioness and =
cubs. Forty minutes into my daily afternoon jog along a dirt road just sou=
th of Vic Falls, I heard a rustling in the bush approx. 100m. ahead. I sto=
pped and witnessed two young cubs running towards me. They approached me o=
nto the road and turned off into the bush approx. 20m from me. Immediately=
following them was "mom" lioness racing towards me. I took two slow steps=
backward and contemplated running up a tree but thought that might be futi=
le. As she continued to approach, I thought my time had come and it just w=
asn't my day, however, while she was 10m (30ft) growling loudly, i decided =
to, as an act of desperation, raise my hands above my head so as to look la=
rger and more threatening. She turned immediately and headed back towards =
her cubs. Whether it was a bluff charge or not, I'll never know, but I am =
happy to live
today to tell my recount. =0A=0AI fully agree with Stan, in that we must =
respect the natural world around us. With population growth and subsequent=
habitat loss occurring at astonishing rates throughout the world, it has n=
ever been more critical than now to understand and educate those around us =
of the inherent value in maintaining, if not improving, ecological processe=
s for the sake of all (humans and non-human species). With Human-Elephant =
Conflict (HEC) and other human encounters with wild species on the rise (in=
Africa especially) it is becoming ever more clear that we must respect and=
learn to live amongst these populations as the nomadic Bushmen of the Kala=
hari Bush peoples once did. =0A=0A=0A=0A----- Original Message ----=0AFrom=
: stan moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>=0ATo: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
: Wednesday, November 1, 2006 6:47:45 PM=0ASubject: dealing with lions -- t=
he old way=0A=0AFolks -- I came across a very interesting book at the books=
tore and the =0Aworldview of the tribal persons described was of great inte=
rest to me and =0Amay be to others.=0A=0AThe book was:=0A=0AThe Old Way: A =
Story of the First People=0Aby Elizabeth Marshall Thomas=0A=0AThis book dep=
icts stories from the life of the author, who as a young 19 =0Ayear old mov=
ed to an area of Africa in the Kalahari Desert where Bushmen =0Alived and s=
till practiced a hunter/gatherer existence with no domestic =0Aanimals and =
almost no influences from modern "civilization". This was =0Aaround 1950; =
the peoples involved have changed their lifestyles over time =0Aand do not =
live "the old way" as they once did, but the author apparently =0Astays in =
touch with friends she made in that location to this day, though =0Anow she=
lives in the U.S.=0A=0AThe "old way" involved a way of life and a worldvie=
w that is very different =0Athan practiced by almost anyone else on the pla=
net, and I thought the =0Adiscussion of the relationship of the Bushmen to =
lions was indicative of =0Athis and very interesting. I will try to descri=
be this relationship as best =0AI can working from memory after a brief rea=
ding:=0A=0AThe Bushmen (Ju/Wasi people if I recall correctly) interacted wi=
th lions on =0Aa regular basis. Both hunted antelope as preferred prey. T=
he Bushmen had =0Aabout five or six antelope species that were preferred pr=
ey by their male =0Ahunters, and the women gathered "vegetables" such as ro=
ots and nuts and =0Aanyone could take "slow" prey, such as snakes, baby bir=
ds and other animals, =0Arodents and rabbits, etc. at any time. But the an=
telope were the preferred =0Afood for feasting, etc.=0A=0ALions were obviou=
sly dangerous and to be avoided. The Ju/wasi hunted with =0Apoisoned arrow=
s, but the poison was slow-acting and required tracking shot =0Aprey, such =
as antelope for days before the prey could be recovered. =0APoisoned arro=
ws with slow-acting poison were not effective as a means of =0Aself-defense=
against lions. The other "weapons" used by these people were =0Ashort spe=
ars, probably not more than about three feet long, which were =0Ahardly use=
ful to defend against lions, as the spears hardly extended more =0Athan the=
grasp of the lions themselves. The spears were useful for putting =0Adown=
wounded and dying antelope and for reaching things beyond the normal =0Agr=
asp of the users.=0A=0AThus the Ju/wasi avoided confrontations with lions i=
n normal procedure. =0ALions tend to hunt at night, so the Bushmen arrang=
ed their affairs to avoid =0Aproximity to lions by staying in their encampm=
ents at night, by arranging =0Atheir primitive grass huts as to avoid steal=
th attacks by lions, by keepiog =0Awatch in an informal security system at =
night, and similar passive measures. =0A They had no livestock to protect =
and attract lions like tribesmen in other =0Aparts of Africa. One occasion=
hunters stalking game might encounter a pride =0Aof lions guarding a kill =
and the tribesmen were not averse to stealing the =0Aprey from the lions if=
they could get away with it, and they had some skill =0Aat reading lion b=
ehaviors to determine when they could approach a lion kill =0Ain circumstan=
ces where the lion(s) abandoned prey without lethal defense and =0Amoved of=
f while the men took their victim.=0A=0ABut sometimes lions would kill thes=
e tribesmen. And here is where the =0Aworldview was quite interesting, I t=
hought. No consideration was ever given =0Aby these people to retaliation =
against lions that killed humans. Lion kills =0Aof humans were infrequent,=
and there seemed to be some sort of "truce" =0Abetween the competing speci=
es in which normally neither attacked or harmed =0Athe other. And if lions=
were to become dangerous to the human groups, and =0Aperhaps begin killing=
multiple people, the tribesmen would leave the area =0Aand abandon the ar=
ea to the lions.=0A=0ATo me, that is amazing! This is a people who were no=
madic and did not build =0Apermanent houses or structures for shelter. Th=
ey did not have to "stand =0Atheir ground" or protect their livestock. The=
y could and would come and go =0Aaccording to availability of food, water, =
game, etc. They felt a =0Arelatedness to all around them. They exploited =
nature for survival, but =0Apossessed very little.=0A=0AI guess a little of=
that spirit might be still present, in of all places, =0ALas Vegas. If I =
recall correctly, when Roy (of Siegfried and Roy) was =0Aattacked by his ti=
ger, he understood the tiger was not his enemy and did not =0Ademand its de=
struction. And thank goodness that Bindi Irwin is not calling =0Afor sting=
ray eradication.=0A=0AMaybe we can learn to live with the thrills and the d=
anger of wild nature if =0Awe choose to, and the story of these Bushmen of =
fifty or sixty years ago was =0Afascinating to me. I don't know if I would=
purchase this book, but if I =0Acould find it at a public library I would =
love to read it in its entirety.=0A=0A_____________________________________=
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