Category: News and Views
I herd this story on the morning news and thought I go and find it to see what you all think.
LIONS SAVE GIRL FROM ABDUCTORS
22.6.2005. 09:46:40
A pride of lions has rescued a 12-year-old girl from kidnappers in Ethiopia after chasing the men terrorising her away.
Police in the rural south-west of the country say the girl was snatched by four men on her way home from school early in June.
The men held the girl captive for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before being found
by her family and police.
"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Sgt Wondimu Wedajo said by telephone from the
provincial capital of Bita Genet, over 550 kilometres west of the capital Addis Ababa.
He said he didn't know whether the lions were male or female.
News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from the Kefa Zone in south-western Ethiopia.
"If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept
the marriage," Sgt Wondimu said.
"Everyone ... thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people."
Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said it was likely the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma
of her attack.
"A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn't eat her," Mr Williams
said. "Otherwise they probably would have done."
The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was "shocked and terrified" and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings, Sgt Wondimu said.
He said that police had caught four of the men, but were still looking for three others.
The United Nations estimates more than 70 per cent of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practised in rural areas where the majority of the country's
71 million people live.
Ethiopia's lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country's national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency.
Despite their integral place in Ethiopia culture, their numbers have been falling, according to experts, as farmers encroach on bush land.
Hunters also kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch US$1,000 (A$1,283), despite a recent crackdown against illegal animal trading across the
country.
Mr Williams estimated that at most, only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.
SOURCE: World News
WOW! That is so intersting! I have always liked lions, so I no that thare not allways vilint to people.
LETS HERE IT FOR THE LIONS WHO ARE OBVIOUSLY FURTHER ALONG THE EVOLUTIONARY scale than most ethipoian males...
I agree Goblin.
Wow this is an a´mazing story it is touching.
i hate men who beat women, especially if they r little girls, i would never accept a marriage if i was beaten.
wow, this story just amazed me... It's incredible. Sad, yet touching.
And anyway, they need to make castration a punishment there. That is just severely messed up. I mean, the girl was 12 years old for god sake! Freaking horny sons of bitches who go around beating and raping young girls should be put out of their misery. Here in the USA, it is called petifelia. that girl is probably scarred and scared of men for life now and will probably never marry. not that i blame her. i wouldnt either if something that traumatic happened to me.
I love animals too and think it's great that the lions were there. I've hear that dolphins also do the same thing when there's a shark around nd someone is swimming or on a surf board in the sea.
lions are known to care for creatures which they would ordenarily eat. there was a lioness who took to mothering and feeding orix calves, and would even kill other orix for herself while defending this one calf. i think her tally is six to date. this story doesn't surprise me in the least, for lions are caring cats, having the pride structure so deeply imbedded into their being. let's hear it for the lions!
Thank Merlin she was found. She may not heal emotionally, but at least she's safe now. Animals are amazing.
I just found this news story, and wow, it is truly amazing. I agree, let's hear it for the pack of precious lions the life savers!!!!!!
well, good for the lions!