username wrote:

lions scare easy, like sandpeople. but theyll be back, and in larger numbers

I know you meant this as a joke (hilarious, BTW), but that's probably a pretty accurate assessment of what's going on here. The lions are just animals, after all, and not ones used to being challenged. All they see is three things coming at them that aren't scared of them and have that "I'm gonna kick your ass, and I can" look in their eyes. Instinct tells them to back off. Eventually, they do realize what's up, but these guys pretty much exploit the initial confusion they create by doing this.

Still, don't try this at home, kiddies.

GPFontaine wrote:

I wonder what the success rate of this tactic is. I can't imagine that it is high enough to be worth it.

If it weren't mostly successful, I'm sure they wouldn't have let them bring the camera.

Wild animals will generally act in a predictable fashion. If you understand the way they think and how they react, you can exploit it. Just be prepared when things go wrong (those guys clearly were).

Why do people think this is so unbelievable? You've never seen a lion at the zoo? Or in a circus?

You're thinking like people. The lions don't see "Oh, we outnumber these guys 5-1, let's take them!".

Even if it doesn't work, the worst-case scenario is the lions don't stop eating the meat or start to return to it, and they slowly back away.

GPFontaine wrote:

UsaSatsui wrote: Why do people think this is so unbelievable? You've never seen a lion at the zoo? Or in a circus? You're thinking like people. The lions don't see "Oh, we outnumber these guys 5-1, let's take them!". Even if it doesn't work, the worst-case scenario is the lions don't stop eating the meat or start to return to it, and they slowly back away. I would argue that the worst case scenario is that the lions defend their meal by attacking the humans. What makes you believe that this is so unbelievable. These are not captive lions that have had their spirit broken by being caged and fed meat slabs. These are animals that live in the wild. They hunt and they kill. For fuck's sake, they are smart enough to group together and take on a fucking elephant, what the hell are three people with sticks going to do? They are instinctively hesitant to go toe to toe with something they don't understand, but that doesn't guarantee anything.

Nothing is guaranteed, but again, you're thinking like a person. Not a wild animal. Just because they pack hunt doesn't mean they can reason. Wild animals behave in predictable ways that can be exploited by human beings.

Size and ability doesn't always matter, it's the attitude you put forward. How many times you you seen a smaller animal chase off a bigger one?

As for the success rate, I dunno, It depends on how you define "success". If it's "how often do you get the meat?", I'd say 75% sounds right, maybe a bit high. If it's "How many times do they escape unhurt?", it's probably close to 100%. These guys know their shit.