Other male lion coalitions from Masai Mara

[KM600]

(08-10-2024, 07:01 AM)BA0701 Wrote: So, this happened in the Mara, where Black Rock Male, Oloshipa, was approaching a mother Cheetah and her four cubs. Two guide vehicles intervened, driving between the two parties, and pushing Oloshipa off in the opposite direction. The lodge claimed they did this due to the low numbers of Cheetah.

I am sharing this, as I believe it is a conversation worth having, but I ask that the conversation remain civil, regardless of which side of the debate you might sit on.

For me, personally, I understand why they did this, and it is certainly the way my heart would lean, but this is the wild, not a zoo, and I do not believe it should be treated that way. Many things have happened in the wild, and to many of these cats that mean so much  to so many of us, that I wish had gone a different way, but I do not agree with human intervention when the conflict in question is between different creatures. While I do, personally, tend to agree with veterinary intervention, in most cases (though I understand when it is not used as well, and will not try to argue my point in such instances), this is an example of human intervention that I do not agree with. Let things play out the way nature intended for them to. The lady on Brothers in Blood, when discussing the killing of Kinky Tail, was discussing how awful it was to witness that, but she said that "we cannot get involved", and I agree with that. It should be viewed as an honor to witness them, in their natural environment, regardless of how things play out, but we cannot be there to protect and defend these creatures constantly, that is not the natural way of things.

So many things taking place in Masai Mara, of late, that to me seem so contradictory. On one hand they will go out of their way to protect the animals, as seen here, and on the other, nothing is done about the illegal encroachment of humans into the Mara, who are hostile towards the lions for no other reason than their behaving as lions should.

This is one of those things where, as great as it is for cheetahs, it’s not fair to other animals. I’m sure there’s countless cases of lions undergoing surgery and then waking up to fresh meat that humans themselves have hunted for that lion so it has the best chance to survive. Is that fair on the impala, certainly not. You could also argue they’ve been doing this to lions for longer albeit this is contradictory as humans are also the biggest threats to lions within set areas, as u mentioned. Not chasing them other predators off, but more so helping with vet care etc. I’m not aware of the numbers of cheetahs in the Mara, but I can say it must be extremely low for them to do such things and go as far to protect these cheetahs, who are actually one of my favourite animals. 

A great point for this being susceptible, is that cheetahs aren’t natural predators for lions, leopards or hyenas. Infact I’d argue having cheetahs around benefits these animals much more than not having them around, how rare is it for a cheetah to finish their whole meal. Normally, there’s always a lion or hyena around to take what’s left. I’d also be anxious about the use of vehicles in driving these animals off, especially lions as they’re the most attractive animals to tourists and are constantly being followed. U don’t want them undergoing new behaviours and becoming scared of vehicles. 

This is obviously not the natural way to do things but can we really say these animals are living in their most natural environment, I’m not so sure. I replied instantly to this comment and was pretty much freestyling all of this without giving too much thought, but I see more positives that come out of the Mara helping cheetahs in this way than I do anything else, obviously I wouldn’t be expecting everyone to agree with this either. Reply