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Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

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Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#31

Post by krisoft »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #30
areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

> Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats, killing their prey, and then shooting them with gun powder and a metal slug. Except for the gun powder and metal slugs, that “adventure” is the story of humanity’s rise and spread. Humans are native to only a very small part of the world. We became the way we are because humans did go into new habitats, challenged the apex predators, took their p…

> that “adventure” is the story of humanity’s rise and spread.

It is a very different story when one kills a predator to make a new safe living space for themselves and their family. The person in question had a safe and comfortable place to live and went out of their way to kill a sentient being and then left the area thus secured.

One is about necessity and the other is a blood sport.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#32

Post by Lordarminius »

titzer wrote: post #24
jmnicolas wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sentient leopard wouldn't have such pity for you, you're just a meal. While I don't condone free kills either, let's not idealize animals. I wish I could find the article that dispelled myths about animals (where you among other things learn that dolphins and sea otters have rapists amongst their ranks).

> The sentient leopard wouldn't have such pity for you, you're just a meal. Sorry, but no. Leopards are not mindless eating machines that can be treated like evil robots with one intent. They have complex lives think about things, and feel pity, if limited. They are scrappy fighters getting pushed to the brink by human encroachment. They have shard minds and are shrewd when necessary. When they're gone, the world wil…

Leopards feel pity ? That is absolute nonsense.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#33

Post by frereubu »

jmnicolas wrote: post #14
areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

The sentient leopard wouldn't have such pity for you, you're just a meal. While I don't condone free kills either, let's not idealize animals. I wish I could find the article that dispelled myths about animals (where you among other things learn that dolphins and sea otters have rapists amongst their ranks).

I'd recommend reading Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by the primatologist Frans de Waal. It's not just about apes and monkeys and it might change what feels like a rather jaded view of non-human animals.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#34

Post by Lordarminius »

LiquidPolymer wrote: post #3

Having been around wild leopards in Africa, and worked around nearly all the big cats - leopards scare me the most. A tiger or lion can be confused by unexpected behavior which can delay or slow an attack. Leopards are the most single-minded predator I've ever seen in action and the only equivalent I can think of is a great white shark. Leopards are relentless, ferocious and deadly. I suspect Mr. Ackley's encounter w…

It was already wounded, he was a seasoned outdoors man and hunter, it was his lucky day. The combination of factors enabled him prevail.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#35

Post by coyotespike »

technothrasher wrote: post #13
areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

Victorian hunters in Africa were pretty brutal. But to be fair to Akeley, he actually had a change of heart near the end of his life after he moved further north to hunt gorillas, and was instrumental to creating Africa's first national park, in the DRC, to preserve and protect the gorillas.

And for what it's worth, apparently he was in fact a scientist: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Akeley

Everyone in that era including scientists killed too many animals imo. Glad he helped get a park going though!

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#36

Post by hutzlibu »

technothrasher wrote: post #13
areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

Victorian hunters in Africa were pretty brutal. But to be fair to Akeley, he actually had a change of heart near the end of his life after he moved further north to hunt gorillas, and was instrumental to creating Africa's first national park, in the DRC, to preserve and protect the gorillas.

Yes, there were basically cults of people, who made a sport of mass killing. The more and bigger the better. Not to eat, but to hang their heads on the wall.

What Akeley did, was more the scientific way.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#37

Post by Terry_Roll »

technothrasher wrote: post #13
areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

Victorian hunters in Africa were pretty brutal. But to be fair to Akeley, he actually had a change of heart near the end of his life after he moved further north to hunt gorillas, and was instrumental to creating Africa's first national park, in the DRC, to preserve and protect the gorillas.

It wasnt just Victorian hunters, the whole country was pretty brutal, sayings existed like "children should be seen and not heard", "stiff upper lip" that sort of thing, and you dont get to run an empire by being nice. That mentality still exists in large parts of the british establishment even today.

This is a lion being reunited with the guy who bought it from Harrods as a cub. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLHdp_dL5Uk

Its surprising how hormone profiles alter one's perspective on life as aging occurs.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#38

Post by [deleted] »

hutzlibu wrote: post #36
technothrasher wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Victorian hunters in Africa were pretty brutal. But to be fair to Akeley, he actually had a change of heart near the end of his life after he moved further north to hunt gorillas, and was instrumental to creating Africa's first national park, in the DRC, to preserve and protect the gorillas.

Yes, there were basically cults of people, who made a sport of mass killing. The more and bigger the better. Not to eat, but to hang their heads on the wall. What Akeley did, was more the scientific way.

[deleted]

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#39

Post by cheese_goddess »

areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

I don't know about any of that sentience stuff. I'm with the leopard because it's a beautiful, wild cat and that other guy who won is an ugly, bald ape with a bushy beard.

That's enough for me to root for the wild beast in its natural habitat, against my own kind even, and I don't care about your morality of not harming sentient beings. The ugly bald ape with the bushy beard is a sentient being, too, and I wouldn't mind if the leopard ate his stupid face off.

Re: Carl Akeley’s fight to the death with a leopard (1923)

#40

Post by [deleted] »

areoform wrote: post #12

I have vacillated on whether or not I should write this comment. I am writing this because most of the comments are focused on the man's prose and prowess. I am on the leopard's side here. Leopards, and most members of the Felidae (cat) family, are sentient, and we hunted some members of this family to near extinction because of accounts like these. Accounts that glorified the "adventure" of going into their habitats…

[deleted]
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