Animal attacks on humans can be a tricky situation, mainly because the two species operate on completely different platforms of decision-making — one cognitive by choice, the other carnal by nature.
In a situation like the recent death of three African children who were eaten by a male lion at a conservation area in Tanzania, the argument of “nature vs. nurture” came into play in a huge way after a decision was made to relocate the animal instead of putting it down for the murder he committed.
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According to local newspaper The Citizen, the carnivorous creature is part of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area’s Kope Lion project, a protected wildlife site where lions, wildebeests and zebras live openly. All three pre-teen victims, and a fourth that was able to get away with several injuries, attended Ngoile Primary School in the Arusha Region. The school’s head teacher, Lobulu Meeje, explained to The Citizen that a search for lost cattle is what brought the children to the lion’s den in the first place; their skulls were the only things left able to identify.
Here’s what William Oleseki, coordinator for the Kope Lion project, had to say on the tragic attack below, via Newsweek:
“First of all let me admit that the children were killed by one of the lions in our Lions project. We have never seen anything like this despite the fact that a group of lions have been in the area for more than three years now,” he said.
Oleseki confirmed that the lion would now be relocated away from the project to an area far from human settlements, and said that the wildcats at the project are monitored by a team of 25 trained officials.”
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While many could point to the children, Ndoskoy Sangau, 9, Sangau Metui, 10, Sanka Saning’o, 10, and survivor Kiyambwa Namuyata, 11, simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, there is something to be said about an animal that was around and monitored by humans for years still being able to viciously attack a group of kids. It goes back to the idea of whether we choose to look at the nature of a lion in wildlife or its nurturing on behalf of the Kope Lion project to ultimately decide who’s at fault.
Let us know your thoughts on this as always by answering the following: do you agree with preserving the lion’s life and bringing it away from human temptation, or should they have put it down so this doesn’t happen again?
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