Human Geography - Abstract - Essay Example

This is what shapes the social behavior for this ferocious animal in the Serengeti. Quammen further notes that for a lion to be found in a wrong social group could in itself mean death as is seen in the case of Hildur which was fleeing from a coalition of four lions known as ‘Killers’ (“Short Happy Life 7). Death is also illustrated when C-Boy is attacked and sound by the other three male lions-Killers. However, in most cases, the fights between lions are mainly due to the reason of wanting to gain controlling rights over a pride, which in this case belonged to C-Boy.

Death for the cubs may result when their father is killed by the ‘Killers’ and their mother lion captured. They are then left for starvation, killed by the ‘Killers’ or left for the hyenas. However, mostly death for lions is as a result of jealousy against one another i.e. the lion is the enemy number one for its kind-lions. In this article, the theme clearly emerges that the reason why lions stay in prides is mainly to protect their offspring from attacks by other coalitions as well as to guard the premium territories they inhabit.

In general, the article describes a life which affirms that the Serengeti is not a place for the impaired, the unlucky or the elderly. Quammen, David. "The Short Happy Life of a Serengeti Lion." National Geographic (2013). http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/serengeti-lions/quammen-text 2. Living with Lions Human relations with animals are one which is defined by various factors most of which are controversial. Controversial in the sense that choice is made between the domesticated animals and the wild ones.

However, for communities who are living next to neighborhoods inhabited by wild animals, daily confrontations with the same is a general phenomenon. Since wild animals such as lions are predators of human beings, there is always a constant struggle for survival in the habitat. In this article, Living with Lions, Quammen documents on the relational existence between man and the ‘King of the Jungle’ (“Living with Lions 10”). First, the article describes the lions are complicated, fearsome animals, which have continually complicated the lives of human beings living among them.

This is because the lions are incompatible with the pastoral and farming life of men around them. Therefore, continually man is forced to hunt and kill the lions as a safety precautionary measure. On the other hand, lions as predators are know to cause havoc by attacking and maiming the human beings. This scenario has seen the trend of lions dwindling downwards while that of men who seek for survival trends upwards. Second, the author has also documented on the past trend line of lions as having been that of staying with men since time immemorial.

For instance, the Chauvet cave in southern France has Paleolithic painting that vividly show the co-existence between lions and men in Europe nearly 30 millennia ago. However, this has changed and for a number of reasons such as loss of habitat, and poaching, fragmentation of the habitat, displacement by livestock, ritual killings among particular communities such as the Maasai in Kenya and the unsustainable hunting of lions by affluent Americans (“Living with Lio