Lessons from the African Savannah, Revised
Stefano Casertano at Thinking Bits has a hilarious piece about this old parable on the African Savannah.
"Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a Lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a Lion or a Gazelle. When the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
"First of all," he says, "Lions hunt at night. Only untalented lions, unable to get anything at night, would stay up in the morning to try get something to eat. Then, mostly female lions hunt. So the claim is only valid for "untalented female lions", to avoid generalizations.
"Second, Gazelles seldom run. They only do that when they see a threat; it is rarely represented by a lion. Most of the times it is a van packed with tourists and screaming kids. Gazelles like to perform other activities when they wake up, than start running like crazy. If they do such things, park guards would think they have gone nuts and would shoot them down."
Read the complete post, its great...
While we're on the subject, here is the single greatest wildlife video every filmed. It takes a while to develop, so be sure and watch the full seven minutes. You will not be disappointed.
posted by Ryan Petersen @ 1:55 AM
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