Chloe and Nxaha

            Do the names Cleo and Nxaha mean anything to you?   If not, here are some clues.  They both lived in Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park.  They both wore tracking collars.  They were both recently involved in killings.  They are both Lions.
          Now I imagine that you recognized Cleo.  She became famous because she was recently killed by a trophy hunter from the United States.  The media picked this up and it spread like wildfire.  It was in the newspapers for days, with big headlines.  The internet and Facebook were filled with stories condemning the hunter.  TV personalities expressed their hate for the hunter.  Bob Barker of the Price Is Right said the dentist hunter should be stalked just like he said Cleo was.  Jimmy Kimmel cried over Cleo's death.   The media promoted out cries from all over the country for various punishments of the hunter who was even forced to close his dental practice and put many of his employees out of work.  The corrupt government of Zimbabwe called for his extradition so that he could be punished by the kangaroo courts in their crooked country where money and bribes do all the speaking.  The media promoted this story and the public responded with hate.  Unfortunately, even some of my good friends on Facebook cried for his punishment and the elimination of hunting.  Several airlines said that they would stop shipping products of hunts. This gentle, pet-like lion, Cleo, quickly became an international star.
          Unfortunately the dentist was judged guilty by the public before all the facts in the case were even known.  And we still don't know all the facts.  However, hunters must depend upon their guides to take care of all the legal procedures and lead them on legal hunts.  It would be assumed that his experienced guide did all that.  And it now appears that they did not set a snare for Cleo as reported.  Apparently the lion was drawn there by another animal which had died.  And, assuming he had all the legal papers, the dentist would not be a poacher but would have been approved to make the kill to help control the population of one of that country's most vicious killers.  Trophy hunting is essential to the very weak economy of that country and to the preservation and control of the animals there.
          But the purpose of this blog is not to defend the hunter or big game hunters. I don't really know if he did something illegal or not and neither do any of you readers. My purpose is to share the hypocrisy of the media and its many gullible followers.
         Now who is Nxaha?   He was a lion with a tracking collar in the same area where Cleo lived.  A few days ago he attacked and killed a 40 year old safari guide who was on a walking - not hunting - safari with six foreign guests.  Unfortunately such events are rather common in that area.  Cleo and Nxaha were not pets but vicious killers who attack villages and their inhabitants regularly.  They are feared killers.
          But, you say, I have not read or heard anything about Nxaha.  No you probably haven't. It's not something the media will share.  I read two paragraphs about it under "In brief" in our local newspaper.  I have not seen it on any network news program or on the internet or even on Facebook.  I've seen no comment from Bob Barker and I have not heard of Jimmy Kimmel crying over the sad death of this human guide.  And there have been no comments from animal rights activists either.  And most likely you won't hear anything.
           It just goes to show you that the media controls what we hear and molds public opinion.  And the life of a vicious lion is more important and newsworthy than that of a human life and certainly of the lives of thousands of babies who are killed daily.  What a sad situation.