Well, I don’t know as I’v ever seen a lioness go fetch a stick, and I’m pretty sure I still haven’t. More or less it’s because her fetch aspect still needs a little work. She’s great at the tracking and retrieval, but bringing it back is not Serabie’s strong suit. Still it’s kind of funny to watch her going after each stick as they’re being tossed. You can just tell from the looks of the male lions that they’re not buying into the whole thing, but that’s okay.
Somehow it almost seems like Serabie is chasing after the sticks because she thinks they’re food of some sort, though it’s easy to see that she’s not really into munching on wood. What strikes me as appropriate about this, as it pertains to nature, is that the lioness is the one that gets up and chases down the food apparently, whereas the ‘king’ of the jungle, the male lion, is the one that reaps all the benefits. It’s been like this for as long as anyone can remember, and it’s been accepted as part of nature simply for the fact that we couldn’t change it if we wanted to. But we’re certainly not following by example.
That’s just one reason for why the males don’t look as interested. If the stick was replaced by something live and able to move on its own the situation might change, maybe. The males might actually get up and chase something if it was running but it’s not a guarantee. Plus there seems to be a big difference between chasing something down for food and chasing it just for play. Lions don’t seem to engage in this unless you’re speaking of cubs, who are attempting to rationalize their world and learn what is necessary to survive through play and by following the example of their parents and elders.
Dogs in contrast love to give chase. They love to play fetch and go running after almost anything that’s tossed for them. Cats on the other hand seem to love stalking more than anything, creeping up on their intended ‘prey’ and then pouncing when they think they have the upper hand. In this clip Serabie really gives the impression that she’s being playful, but at the same time seems to indicate some form of urgency in retrieving the sticks that is hard to really define.
I would agree with the keeper however that she’s fun to watch, especially when she climbs a tree to fetch a lost stick. It might take her a while but she is determined and definitely wants to find it before making her way down. The male lions simply don’t seem to care and even look at the keeper as though he’s being a bit foolish. Well, maybe, but Serabie seems to enjoy the chase for the time being and she’s not going to lie down so it’s fair to assume that she’s going to keep running if the keeper continues to throw her sticks.
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