Better than a Disney Lion

Police in Ethiopia say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of the country.

The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her.

“They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest,” said Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo.

“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,” he 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 that it was likely that 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,” 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.

Police have caught four of the men, but are still looking for three others.

The United Nations estimates that more than 70% 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. Former emperor Haile Selassie kept a pride in the royal palace in Addis Ababa.

Despite their integral place in Ethiopian culture, their numbers have been falling as farmers encroach on bush land. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.

Source: BreakingNews.ie, 06/21/2005

Yet another example of how animals are more humane than people. And I don´t believe that the lions thought the girl was a cub. Cats are a little sharper than that. Animals are very very perceptive; they can distinguish between adults and children of other species, and they can spot signs of aggression from a mile away. I think these cats knew that this was a defenseless creature that was being harassed and decided to help her. And yes, I think animals are capable of making decisions!