In the middle of Upstate New York, it is not an uncommon sight to see cars stopping because a gaggle of Canadian geese strolling across the road. Annoying as it is, at least they tend to move along pretty quick. And, if your vehicle moves slowly enough, they’ll scatter out of the way with no harm done to them. We’ve also discussed watching out for moose on the road in Canada. Oh, and to make sure they don’t lick your vehicle for the salt. But that’s North America.
Now imagine you’re in Tanzania, and you have to deal with lions in the road.
Back in December of 2021, a video started making the rounds. It featured a convoy of tourist vehicles traveling down a dirt road in Tanzania that had to come to a stop due to a pair of lions cuddling in the road. As if that wasn’t enough cuteness to start with, a third feline decides to maneuver between the jeeps to join in and form a furry feline threesome.
The internet either has a very selectively short term memory, or desperately needs good news lately (probably a mix of both) because the video is trending again. Given the online proclivity for cat videos and the fact that lions are just big cats, naturally the stars are going to align and next thing you know, BOOM, more views.
Incidentally, Tanzania has the largest lion population in the world. Alongside a number of other animals you would commonly associate with Africa, including elephants, giraffes, zebras, wildebeest, etc. This is why there are also 17 national parks and a number of other game reserves across the country. While surely there is a debate to be had around the ethics of safaris and the effects that might have on the area, that’s probably a discussion best reserved for another day.
It should instead be a reminder of how amazing nature is and the lengths that we should take to help protect it. Poaching is still a problem in various parts of Africa and climate change still continues to be a terrifying problem that we face as a global community. So if we want to be able to enjoy the adorableness of a blockade of lions blocking traffic, we need to do more to step up our caretaking efforts for this world.
