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My Father's Truth about Lions Lourenço Domingos Martins from Angola|
As is well known, after being kicked out of the pride they live in, old lions have no other opportunity to "command" a pride, so they have to look for food by themselves. It is at this point that my father's war against lions started. In villages such as the one where I was born in Angola, the villagers owned many herds of cattle, goats, and sheep. The people there needed to provide their animals protection against lions, wolves, hyenas, and other predators, so they used to burn fires outside all night long to keep the lions away and protect their herds. But for my father's family, there was my father, who was in his twenties and had started as a hunter at the age of 15. At that time he already had ten years of experience; so whenever the lions struck, he was ready to fight back. He also used his skills to hunt gazelles, pacasas (buffalos), and other antelopes for meat. But he was not a poacher; he never hunted animals in a protected area. Going back to the main issue, my father was famous for hunting lions. One night, he was chasing lions away all night long. Two days later, forty miles away in the main hospital of the area at Samba-Cajul town, a man claimed to have been shot by Mr. Domingos Martins (my father!) two days before on that very night that my father had been just chasing away lions! I
don't know what really happened that day. Neither
does my father, but until the 70s (This story
occurred in the 50s.) many people there used to
believe that there were people who used to become
lions and other predators to steal cattle from
other villages near theirs. I don't believe in that
story, but some other people older than I am do.
It's a strange story, isn't it? More stories:
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