Four legs good, two legs...still bad...
Imagine this: a lost child, kidnapped by evil men and taken into the wild, is rescued by a pride of lions that guard her until help arrives. They then melt back into the jungle. A plot to a new Disney movie? If only...
Police: Lions free kidnapped girl
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia. The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her, Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said Tuesday by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, some 560 kilometers (348 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa. "They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said, adding he did not know whether the lions were male or female. News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from Kefa Zone in southwestern Ethiopia. "If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said. "Everyone ... thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people," Wondimu said. Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said that it was likely that the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma of her attack. "A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn't eat her," Williams said. "Otherwise they probably would have done." The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was "shocked and terrified" and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings, Wondimu said... Ethiopia's lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country's national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency...Despite their integral place in Ethiopia culture, their numbers have been falling, according to experts, as farmers encroach on bush land. Hunters also kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000, despite a recent crackdown against illegal animal trading across the country. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.
It makes me wonder why Humans deserve such a beautiful planet with its animals and views. For all our technology and intelligence, we're just savage and brutal as we were thousands of years ago. I guess that's why when my wife makes me watch sci-fi movies about the Earth being destroyed, I tend to root for Mother Nature... Heck, I was rooting for the big asteroid in Armageddon...
Police: Lions free kidnapped girl
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia. The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her, Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said Tuesday by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, some 560 kilometers (348 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa. "They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said, adding he did not know whether the lions were male or female. News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from Kefa Zone in southwestern Ethiopia. "If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said. "Everyone ... thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people," Wondimu said. Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said that it was likely that the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma of her attack. "A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn't eat her," Williams said. "Otherwise they probably would have done." The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was "shocked and terrified" and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings, Wondimu said... Ethiopia's lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country's national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency...Despite their integral place in Ethiopia culture, their numbers have been falling, according to experts, as farmers encroach on bush land. Hunters also kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000, despite a recent crackdown against illegal animal trading across the country. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.
It makes me wonder why Humans deserve such a beautiful planet with its animals and views. For all our technology and intelligence, we're just savage and brutal as we were thousands of years ago. I guess that's why when my wife makes me watch sci-fi movies about the Earth being destroyed, I tend to root for Mother Nature... Heck, I was rooting for the big asteroid in Armageddon...
posted by Alan at 9:47 AM
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