Ah, you sure about eating own offspring? I know males will kill cubs fathered by other males when they move to take over a pride. But their own cubs? Not sure about that one. Any links would be appreciated.

"In his classic work On Aggression, Nobel Laureate Konrad Lorenz argued that man is the only species that regularly kills its own kind. This concept, which contrasted the order and restraint in the animal world with the chaotic aggressiveness of man. reflected the mood of the time: the shadow-of-the-Bomb pessimism of the '50s and early '60s. But Lorenz was wrong; since 1963, when his book was published, naturalists have identified dozens of species that kill their own, including lions, hippos, bears, wolves, hyenas, herring gulls and more than...

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912086,00.html#ixzz1kdWCZxDO

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Opinions will vary. Some naturalists say the Lion will eat his young in lean times.

I have been told by one African friend that they will indeed eat their own young, at least the ones where he was from.

They could all of course be wrong. I'm not qualified to make the call.

P.S. The abundance of the articles that say what you do would tend to imply you are right, and I was talking out of my rear.

Have you seen that vid of that three yr old at the zoo when the lion goes after her behind the glass? Pussy cat? not hardly :)

Some little naughty children were banging on the perspex glass stuff at the zoo once and yelling at a lion. Mr Lion walked up, bit the glass in front of their faces, pissed all over it, then walked back and sex with Ms Lioness and let rip a mighty ROAR. I was well impressed! What a mob of unruly children who were in the presence of King Lion, or in this case Mr Behave Yourself Now!

Conversely, there was that idiot parent who let a toddler fall into the gorilla exhibit at one zoo. And the tot was rescued/protected by a caring gorilla who protected him from the rest until humans came to take care of him.

One might consider that animals in zoos might be more likely to be unhinged, or even victims of constant harassment if not outright abuse.

I get cranky and more likely to lash out when confined unnaturally, with nothing really to do too. ;^(

Zoo's yeah, like the ones that have breeding programs, plenty of space and take in animals that would otherwise be put down. Rather wish there was more environment left for animals instead, and I don't like it that some enclosures are bloody tiny concrete boring shite. I used to go looking for interesting plants, lot's of exotic stuff is grown in zoo's. Teach ape's to pick locks, and visit friends who are extinct in the local environment.

I favor the breeding programs that keep species alive, and I favor the efforts zoos make to inform people, help them see the value of the animals and habitat that more might become advocates, but one might think the animals might well go a bit insane in the weird conditions they live in v the world they evolved for. Makes me very sad.

But they are so much smarter, wiser, better than so many of us give them credit for.

Generally, I like most animals better than the average person, just say'n. :)

In many cases they are better company, and they always have your back.

Thinking Jane Goodall might dispute that. And she has video to back up the argument that some animals do have evil tendencies.

Not true . If an animal is tormented , the way WE torment each other ... they can become very evil . Evil is what happens when life is twisted beyond its capacity to cope , and the correct genes are in place ....

evil is what happens when we are beyond our means to cope...absolutely true and a great point

She recounted and presumed violent behaviour observed may have in fact been due to human influence.

My observation is that animals have purpose behind actions. They defend territory, their pack, or they will hunt for food and keep the skills they need to survive in practice. Humans however will make a decision to kill or inflict torture and/or pain for sick demented pleasure. You won't see an animal cleaning up blood, other evidence and using lies to conceal a gory killing spree.

^'d Perhaps the best comment I've read in days! You are completely right!

I hear what you are saying, and agree with you about most animals. But Goodall documented that there are some very violent, maliciously violent chimps in some groups. And she documented actual 'warfare' where one group made a well planned attack on another group. There was not pressure for food resources, it was war.

So, yeah, some critters do bad things for no reason. It does not surprise me that the critters that have been documented doing such things are the ones most like us.

Just saw her on the other night. She said there are some violent and abusive chimps. Yes, some are victims of humans, but over the years, she documented a lot of weird stuff. And she admits chimps have "a dark side"

Seeing as we are pretty similar to chimps I could imagine that happening. Fear of the other tribe, now stoked by our benevolent and caring politicians. We have obviously hung onto some of those old instincts. It's interesting, the psychology of manipulating voters. On one hand we have fear of immigration fed to us, on the other hand rests the argument of class warfare or that criticising the exploitation of the taxation system by means of wealth is war, I can't think of any jokes unfortunately, except the politicians themselves.

The right side of politics told me it didn't give a toss about my animal friends and plants, the left side said it did and then ran them all fucking over with a bulldozer. The right side sells off public assets says it's responsible, the left side buys private assets with public funds, gets caught, then let off by the right side. They all go and have lunch together. Some of them have sex. I like the chimps a lot more. - edit - I like the chimps.

Why , thank you . This is an area of particular fascination for me . Recent science has much to say on the subject .

And prehaps they know the bad men too.

Animals watch us more than we watch them. Perhaps they see good hearts and bad hearts.

Artemis 6, I enjoy your comments. They always give my mind some room to explore ideas.

Indeed , IF humans would reject the idea they are the highest form of evolution , they might see , that sentience and morality happen in all feeling creatures . As the Native Americans believed , animals , are our brothers and sisters , equals . I am glad these lions chose to interfere . They understand more than we are willing to admit . IF the lions had killed the men , they would certainly be hunted and killed . They may yet be . I wish they luck . I am glad you enjoy my comments , i try to contribute when i can .

You are so right, animals see way more then people think. I have kown dogs that were better judges of character then any human I have ever met. Growing up my dog who slept with several litters of kittens over the years and never hurt a fly growled at a "salesman" who came to our door as if the dog wanted to kill him. Astounded we simply turned the salesman away and tried to calm our pet. The next night the "salesman" was arrested four doors down the street for aggravated robbery and assault.

That was a really good dog! I have one of those. Gentle giant with all things small or young, but the few he barks at?ALWAYS turns out he was spot on.

I have watched that in all sorts of critters. Lots of wisdom.

Thanks for sharing the story of your old dog, Wanderer. I do so enjoy reading your comments and this one is especially gratifying.