Friday, September 02, 2005

Ah, Um, Well Honey We're Home Late Because, Um, A LION ATTACKED ME, Yeah...

Villager fights off lion

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A Tanzanian man survived a mauling by a lion which sprang at him from the bushes on his way to his farm, the local Guardian newspaper reported Thursday.
Omari Waziri Mtonga was with two relatives when the beast hauled him to the ground, clawing and biting him repeatedly in the coastal district of Kisarawe, the paper said.

"I somehow managed to muster the strength to battle with it," the 50-year-old said from his hospital bed after the attack last weekend. "I was in a state of shock, but kept fighting it with all my strength. I refused to lie down and be killed by the animal."

As his two companions screamed for help, the huge cat left its struggling prey on the ground and sank its teeth into the thigh of one of the other men before charging back into the forest.
The newspaper said villagers were on the hunt for the lion.

The east African country has a large population of wildlife including leopards and cheetahs, which periodically attack villagers or their livestock.

How charming. Trust me on this one, the guy did not fend off a fully grown male lion, and it's been a while since I've been in that neck of the woods but young adults who've strayed from a pride can and will lash out at passersby, from fear more than anything else. Good sized male is 450 pounds and while they won't attack a man who is carrying and knows how to use a spear, any attack on the average Joe results in Lion 1, Joe 0.

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