lions (was: WHY=portal to others insanity)

[Guest guest]

Kaiden wrote:

>...I kept seeing the typicality of it all - that men and

>women act like housecats or lions. In lion/housecat prides, the males will

>*kill* any kittens fathered by another male, in order to aid the female back

>into heat.

One of the times I got to the zoo early enough that I was

almost the only visitor there, I saw a very interesting

interaction among lions. The zoo's male lion had died not

long ago, and a new male lion had been acquired from

another zoo. There were three female lions at the time,

and all the lions lived in a largish, landscaped area of

land with areas of tall grass and strategically placed

big rocks (big enough for lions to lie on).

When I approached the lion enclosure from the west, the

grassy area, the male lion was fairly close to me, lying

in the grass. The three females were down at the other

end, near the entrance to their indoor area (which is out

of public view). As I watched, the three females, one at

a time, in a casual manner (rather elaborately casual, I

subsequently decided), began to move slowly towards me

and the male lion.

Pretty soon, they had him surrounded, and he was looking

increasingly nervous. He wsa right to be nervous, because

next thing they did was jump him. They didn't seem intent

on hurting him, and they let him get away quickly. My

guess is that they had decided to let him know he was the

new kid and should mind his manners, not expect to rule

the family just because he happened to be male.

They all seem to get along okay now. I don't know whether

that male lion *needed* to be taught that lesson. It

may have been a generic preventative on the part of the

females.

Jane