When you think “lion,” you probably think of a fierce animal that you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Or anywhere, actually. Not unless you have a sincere death wish. I certainly would not go to Africa to watch lions without being armed and having a guide who is also armed by my side. There is something regal though about a male lion and his lioness. They walk and act like African royalty. They should… they are near the top of the food chain in Africa.
At the end of the day though, in some ways they are just cats. And apparently scaredy cats at that. It doesn’t matter how big they are, they still realize that dogs are their natural enemy and aren’t willing to take a chance in a battle. I guess size doesn’t matter after all.
I know this, because there is a video from Tanzania that shows two large lions running away from a very small dog when he confronts them.
A lion and lioness were taking a relaxing walk in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania when a tiny dog with a big mouth approached the couple and began barking angrily at them. Not intimidated by the size difference or the fact that he was outnumbered, the brave pooch appears to even bite at the male lion’s mane. That dog has serious stones. I think he took the male lion by surprise this time. He didn’t know what to make of the loud, aggressive pooch. What I find odd is that the lion didn’t reach out and swat the dog.
Maybe I’ve been incorrect in thinking that larger dogs are better for home defense. All you need is a dog (of any size) that is willing to go toe-to-toe with two large lions. Like this one for instance.
The people filming the exchange can be heard gasping when the male lion appears to scuttle away from the pup. If they’re anything like me, they were probably thinking that this is the last time they would ever see little Fido alive and wanted to catch his last moments on film. He’d make about one big mouthful for the King of the Pride. They underestimated his veracity though. The dog showed a ton of bravery and spunk. And maybe a whole lot of dangerous bravado as well.
Watch the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15S-xAdGre0
Once he successfully backed the lions off, the diminutive doggy strolled away with his victory in hand and his pride intact. The same can’t be said of the male lion, who flinched at the first sign of trouble. He’s going to have damage control to do to reclaim being King of the Jungle again. Wonder what the lioness thought of her mate’s lack of bravery?
The little dog is most likely owned by the Maasai people – a semi-nomadic group located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania. Livestock belonging to the Maasai tribe shockingly graze alongside wild animals all the time. And unless a lion or other predator is hungry, no harm, no foul.
Will there be a round two? Only time will tell. Let’s hope not. I doubt this pup would be so fortunate next time.
Most of us can only dream of this type of bravery. I can tell you that as a human, even if I was armed to the teeth, there is still something about the thought of meeting such a powerful beast head on that makes me deeply uncomfortable. It’s not an experience that I will ever be eager to submit myself to, I can tell you that. I don’t relish being dinner for a big cat. And given half a chance, that’s exactly what would happen.
Well, perhaps if I had this dog by my side then I would be able to make it out alive. Doubtful, but maybe. I don’t know how long it will be until his luck runs out, but he might not want to push it very much. I keep thinking of a documentary I saw years ago of a monkey who taunted a snake. Eventually, the snake got him after his luck ran out. I wouldn’t want to see that happen to this little fella.
Still, my money will always be on the pup. He’s tough.
Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is an editor and writer for Right Wing News. She owns and blogs at NoisyRoom.net. She is a Constitutional Conservative and NoisyRoom focuses on political and national issues of interest to the American public. Terresa is the editor at Trevor Loudon's site, New Zeal - trevorloudon.com. She also does research at KeyWiki.org. You can email Terresa here. NoisyRoom can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.