Lion cub

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   Alastar Packerposted 13 years ago

   A Lion cub becomes hopelessly separated from the pride. Should the cub be assisted by placing it nearer the pride or not?

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      Hyphenbirdposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Saving a life is always the right thing to do. It is not interfering, it is acting win compassion and love. Also God gave humans dominion over animals to care for and lead them. So it is our responsibility to help anyway and anytime we can.
      
      (Genesis 1:26-"And God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

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      habeeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'd have to help the poor cub! There's no way I could just stand by and watch it starve to death.

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      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Oh..., why not? As a species, we stick our noses into everything else...

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         Alastar Packerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         So true paradigm. Hey, didn't see you for ages so thought you'd joined the exodus awhile back. Good to know your still on these fair shores. Gotta re-up my follow on ya!

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            paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I remember you. I thought you were gone yourself. Ditto on the re-follow.

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               Alastar Packerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               

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      tlmcgaa70posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      i find it ironic to run into this question right now as i was just thinking about this very thing last night. it is wrong, pure and simple, to sit and watch anything suffer and die when you r aide can save its life. there is no excuse or justification for it. man will justify killing off to extinction certain predators so they can hunt their prey without competition, thus unbalancing nature. but they wont step in and save a lion cub or an elephant or some other wild creature for fear of unbalancing nature...yeah right. they need to take another look at their priorities, and quit thinking about their ratings. I have seen men trying to save a baby elephant who fell or got stuck in a mud hole, even at the threat to their own lives from the mother, in the end  the baby elephant was saved. they did not see a dilemma. i could never stand by and watch, let alone film, the death struggles of a living creature, not even if there was no way i could save its life...i would go in and end its suffering. then let nature take its course!

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         Alastar Packerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Well, the consensus is overwhelmingly for intervention. As one that would normally be for a strict non-interference policy, I'll have to admit after reading everyone's great posts and ruminating on it awhile, that there are exceptions to every rule. And this would be one of them for me as the cub was an older one. I would assist and argue for placing the cub closer to the pride. I couldn't watch the end of the documentary because I believe it was decided in the end not to interfere in the natural order of nature. It was obviously a heart-breaking decision for most of them.

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   peanutroasterposted 13 years ago

   Not something to occurs in my daily life for sure.

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      Alastar Packerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      There was a film crew following a Lion pride. One older cub became separated. As the days went on with the adorable & pitiful little Lion tugging on the heart-strings of all, a conundrum began between the people in the crew with some wanting to intervene and others saying nature must take it's course. It is a most difficult decision and personally I'm still not sure. What would be the right thing to do?

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         peanutroasterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Did the film crew cause the event?  If so I'd say move the cub with gloves as not to leave any scent.  But surely one must consult an expert in the field.

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   Seeker7posted 13 years ago

   Nature should take its course. But surely that means that if, in nature, there happens to be a few humans around who could itervene on the cub's behalf then that's what they should have done. I don't understand why the film crew would have this predicament? After all, it's not like there are that many film crews and naturalists running around helping wild animals that it's going to upset the balance of nature! If I was there I would help and to hell with gibbering on about if this would upset any balances in the food chain!

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      peanutroasterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Unfortunately man has interfered with nature so much at many times man has to step in and help out.

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   Alastar Packerposted 13 years ago

   No peanut roaster, they weren't responsible in any way for the cub's sad situation. That's what made it so difficult for the film crew. Intervene, or let nature take it's natural course.

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      Sally's Troveposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I saw a documentary about meerkats, years ago. The film maker and crew documented the meerkats' lives over months, maybe longer. As policy for their filming, they chose not to intervene, even when they could have saved a life.
      
      I'm inclined to shrug it off as the precursor of "reality TV", but I don't understand the minds and hearts of those folks filming the meerkats. I could not have been on that team.
      
      On the other hand, life and death are reality.
      
      Don't ask me what I think of Gene Simmons.

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         Alastar Packerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You've gotten close to the heart of the film crews dilemma with the non-interference pledge. Gene Simmons and that 'reality' show? No like. You want a great laugh. Go to you-tube for best bass guitar performances. Watch say, the late John Entwistle of the Who. Then watch one on Gene Simmons. Be prepared to howl harder than anything you see on that stupid show.

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   tarrka1089posted 13 years ago

   Yes, this is definitely a dilemma as to the argument of nature needing to take its course.  I agree if able to assist in getting the cub closer to mom without leaving a human scent and seeing if mom brings the cub back into the pride.  If mom does not accept the cub then you have to believe she senses either a physical frailty or human interaction.
   
   If the cub is not accepted, it would be ideal if it could be transported to a preserve or other facility where it could live, especially since so many big cats are becoming prey to poachers at an alarming rate.

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      Sally's Troveposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      We've screwed things up so badly with the animal kingdom that it's hard to say what to do now. We've slaughtered buffalo populations, driven elephants out of their migration paths...so many things we've already done to change the balance among living things. So now we document wild life "as it is" and don't intervene. There's something wrong with this whole picture.

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   Lyn.Stewartposted 13 years ago

   I agree with helping the cub out ... I once watched a nature programme where an elephant got stuck and the film crew filmed it for over a week while it got weaker and finally died. I never understood why they didn'thelp it out especially as they said they could get it out.
   
   If an animal is attacked by other wild animals and eatten that is life but to watch an animal suffer needlessly is cruelty in the extreme. Yes I understand that if the film crew wasn't there the animals would perrish, however who is to say that the film crew didn't arrive there forthe very reason of being in a possition to save these animals.
   
   Iwould at least have to try to save them. If it didn't workit wasn'tmeant to ... If it did then that was meant to be as well. I certainly wouldn'twant someone to not help one of my children just because if they wern't there it would be different.

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