I uploaded a video from YouTube and posted it here at SHS the other day that depicts a fight over the fate of a calf among lions, a crocodile, and the calf’s herd of cape buffalo. I have heard from a few readers that it no longer works. I’m not sure why that is. I suspect that is because it was sold, I believe to National Geographic, and thus taking it off of a free viewing site was probably part of the deal. However, I checked the YouTube site and it was working there. Check it out.
Here is a summary in case anyone still wishes to participate in the commentary about it: Two adults and the calf have walked away from the herd. Big mistake. They literally stumble across a small pride of lions! Seeing an easy meal, the lions leap to the chase and zero in on the calf.
The lions violently knock the calf into a river and pounce on it, biting away. The adults run off. The lions try to drag the calf to the land in order to finish it off, when a crocodile grabs it from the rear. There is a tug of war. We can hear shocked reaction of the people taking the video from across the river.
Finally, the calf is dragged out of the water and is soon to be a meal when the herd of buffalo unexpectedly come up. The bulls go after individual lions who, one by one, are chased off the calf. Finally, the calf gets up and rejoins the herd.
It is a happy ending, from our empathetic perspective of rooting for the helpless calf. Whether the calf ultimately survived, of course, is questionable. He was bitten repeatedly and may have much blood or could die of infection. On the other hand, he may be happily chewing cud none the worse for wear. When I was in S. Africa at a game park, I saw a giraffe without a tail. I was told by the game warden that it was bitten off by a lion, who was probably kicked to death by the giraffe, when she bit down on the tail. Life is tough on the savanna.
I would love everyone to jump in on the commentary I wrote to the original post. I think the video illustrates quite well that animal rights don’t apply in nature, and hence, are really not a debate about “rights” at all. Rather, the entire controversy is a debate about the scope and depth of human duties toward animals, which arise because of our exceptional natures.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
