Man vs Lion

[Transat]

This guy comes 2 feet face to face with a wild Lion in an African safari.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQs9W9Mm ... =rec-fresh

The guy has got balls of steel.

[bork[e]]

I'd never consider doing something like that, but if I had to, white shorts is the last thing I would wear while walking up to a lion while being recorded.

[Transat]

If you look around on you tube, there is a video of what happens when it all goes wrong, not for the weak.

[CaseDogg]

I'd never consider doing something like that, but if I had to, white shorts is the last thing I would wear while walking up to a lion while being recorded.

why? cuz you might shit yourself?

[a13n]

Yet another Roger Rabbit?

[Ryoki]

That's not balls of steel, that's just plain fucking stupid.

[andyman]

RAWRRRR

[Plan B]

Thought this was gonna be about soccer.

What's that package he's got with him he sticks under his shirt at the beginning and
waves at the lion when he gets too close.

[bork[e]]

toilet paper, watch until the very end

[R00k]

What a complete fucking idiot.

If anything were to go wrong, not only would he be fucked, but those lions would also be more likely to attack humans in the future thanks to his antics.

[Transient]

What a complete fucking idiot.

If anything were to go wrong, not only would he be fucked, but those lions would also be more likely to attack humans in the future thanks to his antics.

But what are the chances that those specific lions encounter another idiot who crawls toward them? Plus, they never actually attacked him.

[Captain]

What a complete fucking idiot.

If anything were to go wrong, not only would he be fucked, but those lions would also be more likely to attack humans in the future thanks to his antics.

lol, it's not like this is going to hurt the Man-Lion peace process or something. If anything, he's showing that lions are not insane, hyper-aggressive man-eating monsters that they and most other animals are often brandished as.

[R00k]

It's the same reason you don't feed wild animals - you don't want them to associate humans with food. In this case, you don't want them to associate humans with their territory being challenged.

It would be one thing in some kind of controlled experiment (although it's hard for me to picture how that would be done) -- but some asshole with no means of escape crawling toward a lion pride with a roll of toilet paper - you think that's a responsible way to interact with these animals?

Don't get me wrong - I just drove through miles and miles of african wilderness in a VW Polo, with lions and everything else nearby. But these are highly territorial animals. It's one thing to drive around on roads and look at them with binoculars -- getting out of your car on all fours, and crawling toward them and the territory they've marked out is entirely different.

So he's a lucky idiot, but still an idiot.

[-SKID-]

This guy reminds me of the "Grizzly Man". He will eventually get mauled to death, men and wild animals wont always get along.

[Dr_Watson]

if you're going to do something that stupid... should really bring a tazer.

[AmIdYfReAk]

i really dont think you would have time to Tazer the fucker, if he decided he wants a piece of you, its over.

[Dr_Watson]

eh, probably get mauled a bit, but i'd bet you could shock him out before the lights went out.
at any rate... be more useful than a wad of toilet paper and not as lame as a gun.

[Captain]

Here's a better vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqSLWMnc ... re=related

Fuckers killed it.

[[xeno]Julios]

-- but some asshole with no means of escape crawling toward a lion pride with a roll of toilet paper - you think that's a responsible way to interact with these animals?

dunno if it's irresponsible - guy obviously has experience with the big cat psyche and knows how to handle himself. And he's really only putting himself at risk - i don't buy the whole thing about how this makes lions more likely to associate humans with food or territory invasion. What, so this dude's an idiot because now it makes it more risky for others to do exactly what he did? But if you're saying people shouldn't be doing that in the first place then it's a moot point no?

I found if pretty fucking cool - guy really put everything on the line and had a fucking incredible experience and shared it with us.

[xer0s]

"An exploritory jab with a paw would remove Mike's face."

Crazy bastard.

[R00k]

First and foremost I think he's an idiot for even trying it. Like somebody said before, the guy who thought he could get along with grizzly bears was pretty familiar with their psyche as well, but they turned out just to be wild animals with strong instincts.

And I may be wrong about conditioning them to associate certain behaviors with humans - I'm certainly no expert. But I know that a lot of animals do make those kinds of associations after interactions with people.

I also don't know where he was. But in many places, if the lion had attacked him, even though it was provoked, someone would have eventually killed it for that. Obviously it didn't turn out that way, but it might have.

[[xeno]Julios]

I also don't know where he was. But in many places, if the lion had attacked him, even though it was provoked, someone would have eventually killed it for that. Obviously it didn't turn out that way, but it might have.

that's a fair point. And who knows, you may be right about conditioning - maybe it'd lower their threshold for charging humans.

still fascinating to watch.

[Transient]

Would the lions really learn association from one instance?

[Scourge]

I highly doubt it. It would take numerous instances.

[Transient]

I really have no idea. Though I do know that different animals learn at different rates. Crows, for example, are damn clever. So are squirrels, to the detriment of the birds at my bird feeders...