CNN: Kidnapped Girl Saved By LIONS! Noooo shit!
 

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa....ap/index.html

Police: Lions free kidnapped girl

Tuesday, June 21, 2005; Posted: 9:39 a.m. EDT (13:39 GMT)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Police say three lions rescued a 12-year-old girl kidnapped by men who wanted to force her into marriage, chasing off her abductors and guarding her until police and relatives tracked her down in a remote corner of Ethiopia.

The men had held the girl for seven days, repeatedly beating her, before the lions chased them away and guarded her for half a day before her family and police found her, Sgt. Wondimu Wedajo said Tuesday by telephone from the provincial capital of Bita Genet, some 560 kilometers (348 miles) west of the capital, Addis Ababa.

"They stood guard until we found her and then they just left her like a gift and went back into the forest," Wondimu said, adding he did not know whether the lions were male or female.

News of the June 9 rescue was slow to filter out from Kefa Zone in southwestern Ethiopia.

"If the lions had not come to her rescue then it could have been much worse. Often these young girls are raped and severely beaten to force them to accept the marriage," he said.

"Everyone in thinks this is some kind of miracle, because normally the lions would attack people," Wondimu said.

Stuart Williams, a wildlife expert with the rural development ministry, said that it was likely that the young girl was saved because she was crying from the trauma of her attack.

"A young girl whimpering could be mistaken for the mewing sound from a lion cub, which in turn could explain why they (the lions) didn't eat her," Williams said. "Otherwise they probably would have done."

The girl, the youngest of four brothers and sisters, was "shocked and terrified" and had to be treated for the cuts from her beatings, Wondimu said.

He said that police had caught four of the men, but were still looking for three others.

In Ethiopia, kidnapping has long been part of the marriage custom, a tradition of sorrow and violence whose origins are murky.

The United Nations estimates that more than 70 percent of marriages in Ethiopia are by abduction, practiced in rural areas where the majority of the country's 71 million people live.

Ethiopia's lions, famous for their large black manes, are the country's national symbol and adorn statues and the local currency. Former emperor Haile Selassie kept a pride in the royal palace in Addis Ababa.

Despite their integral place in Ethiopia culture, their numbers have been falling, according to experts, as farmers encroach on bush land.

Hunters also kill the animals for their skins, which can fetch $1,000, despite a recent crackdown against illegal animal trading across the country. Williams said that at most only 1,000 Ethiopian lions remain in the wild.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Great Story!

nice story

something you don't witness very often :)

:smokin

I guess she was too skinny to eat

wow, that is really amazing!

That is an amazing story. I love animals :)

wow . . . thats crazy!

Lions = Heroes.

how bizarre!

wow...that's really something unusual...

:thumbsup :thumbsup

pretty amazing story...

Long live the King :pimp

I am so blown away at this story I have no doubt it will end up as a children's book, animated movie, broadway show yadda yadda yadda.

It's nothing short of a miracle for sure.

Woah ... that's just a ... miracle :P

You guys are so friggin' gullible. This is just some Ethiopian urban legend.

Fantastic. I saw something similar on TV, a very young boy had fallen into a gorilla pit at a zoo and the alpha silverback male seemed to protect him from the other gorillas.

My faith in animals = 95%. My faith in most humans = 5%. ;)

Nice story!! Bump for the lions

This is great.... I think animals are far far more intelligent than are credited for. You just have to take a look at that "Leopard attacking the nasty guy" movie to see that. Someone post the url.

I stand corrected on one thing though..... "sea animals" are not that bright.

The lion nuthuggery is out of hand in this thread. Time for a reality check.

http://www.upstandingfuckingcitizens...ts_handled.wmv

That's one helluva story. Unbelievable..wow!

He could tell the difference between a male and a female lion? Don't males have huge manes? Sounds made up.

Of course, it's on CNN, so it HAS to be true.

i dont believe this

Uhm hello idiots. Ethiopia...read Ethiopia. These people live 200 years ago. They love stories like this. Ask any person from Ethiopia about unusual stories and you'll get tons of this shit.

you are correct




oh wait,,,fox news will be interviewing the lions tonight :1orglaugh

Holy shit, too bad the lions didn't eat those fuckers

A few critters know "stress" when they come across it and who knows, but maybe they were "concerned".

I know of one family who were "befriended" by this massive cat (a strike with his paw would knock ya out stone cold), but he has no problem with humans (adult or children) and has never harmed them even tho they may be strangers. He likes to watch TV and has some social graces:-) However, the hunter instinct is still there and when there is "fair game" (like a goat), - all ya see is a cloud of dust.

Nice story...

JAH.. rastafari

Lions rock

Nooooo, it's reported by AP the Associated Press. CNN and MSNBC and every other news service subscribes to AP.

And the girl returned the favor by ....
http://homepage.mac.com/drjohn/Galle...s/liongirl.jpg

Thatis how mihracle works, anywhere, at any time, and at any given situtaion..

Lion King was a great movie :thumbsup

woot... cool!
King of the Jungle!