Of the power of lions

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I found out recently that lions are a symbol of power in human psyche. It's really nice of you vertical monkeys, to think of us this way... We lions are powerful, it's true: I can tear your head off with one playful swat of my paw but, stop and think for one second... OK, humans are wretched animals: they can't really bite, their nails are ridiculous, they can't run fast and they look silly naked. They make a convenient snack, even though, personally, I prefer buffalo meat. But it is quite another story when the same wretched animal is armed with a gun: they can kill anything with guns, even elephants. A human becomes faster than the fastest of antelopes in a car. And as if being able to outrun antelopes in cars wasn't enough, they can fly as well, higher than eagles, in machines they call planes. I can tear you to bits in seconds but you can do the same and worse to me with a bazooka... And you don't even have to get close to me to do so! We lions are powerful but we are humble: we know physical strength can only take you this far. A single lion can be killed by a pack of hyenas or gored to death by a buffalo. We can die from diseases caused by micro organisms we can't even see with the naked eye. We can starve to death. We can be killed by members of our own species. And we can be killed by man. To finish, just one anecdote: there was a big fella lion, very cunning, very intelligent, very powerful and virtually fearless; he taught us to tackle and kill elephants. Do you know what we nicknamed him? The Man.