Lesson about lions from a Museum

The African Museum at the Obafemi Awolowo University remains one of the best higher institution-based museums in the country. Being within the vicinity of the town I am primarily based, I have been able to visit the museum a couple of times, and each time I visit, one particular image always plays different scenarios in my head. The image is in the picture below.

The image is that of a curated lion. A closer look shows that the lion was not only curated but was earlier killed - specifically with gunshots. Was it killed during hunting? Actually no. The lion used to be one of those in the Biological garden of the institution until it went rogue one particular day, killing one of the zookeepers in the process. The animal was subsequently hunted, killed with gunshots, and then curated in the museum.

The loss of one of the zookeepers triggered a host of emotions from the university community and this led to the killing of the lioness and the cub that made up the pride back then.

What could have happened?

I keep wondering what could have gone wrong that a lion will just go rogue and kill one of those that normally feed it. I have seen a couple of pictures on social media where humans keep lions as pets, although one may argue that those have been tamed. Further inquiry revealed that the lion got starved and somehow found an escape route away from the iron cage that serves as a shield between zookeepers and the animal during feeding times. Unknowingly to the victim zookeeper, he just stepped into the feeding arena to meet the cold stare of the hungry animal. The rest is history.

The incident provoked a lot of discussion from the public with many arguing that the management of the biological gardens is to be blamed for starving the lions by not feeding them as when due. The belief is that lions do not kill except when they are hungry. Hunger will make the most peaceful man become violent.

On one hand, their argument sounds logical as lions are known to take a lot of rest from hunting once they have their fill from prey. According to research, an adult lion can take up to a week's rest away from hunting after having his fill from a fresh kill. This in a way suggests that lions may not attack anyone as long they are not hungry.

On the contrary, however, evidence based on real-life happening suggests that lions can kill even when they are not hungry. In other words, lions, like a few other animals such as foxes, cats, etc., also engage in killing prey just for sport. This form of killing, known as surplus killings, has been reported in numerous instances in history.

Some years back, I watched a movie titled 'the ghost and the darkness'. It was about two lions who specialized in killing humans. This time, they terrorized a group of workers working on the construction of a railroad bridge over a river in the far Eastern part of African - Kenya. These lions will stealthily enter the camp of the workers at night and were killing them one after the other every night.

It might sound like it's just a movie but in reality, it is not. It is a movie based on real-life stories. Some opined that the lions in that particular area of Kenya are generally known to be man-eaters. Reports have it that the ghost and the darkness killed more than 135 people combined during the said period.

Some researchers are of another opinion, however, claiming that the ghost and the darkness lions specialized in hunting and killing humans due to certain defects in their biology which makes them a weak hunters. Hence, instead of hunting and killing their natural preys, they resort to hunting humans because they are generally slower and more defenseless than their natural preys (the likes of antelopes, zebras, etc).

Final Thoughts

There are no standard rules guiding the behaviour of lions as far as their interactions with their other animals are concerned. Lions have their preferable prey in the likes of hoofed animals but might kill other animals, including humans, just for the fun of it. The surplus killing behaviour is not peculiar to only lions.

Thank you all for reading.