This photo was introduced to me not long ago. Kevin Carter took this photo and became famous/infamous. A substantial number of people criticized him for photographing instead of helping the Sudanese girl - "The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene."
I felt the pain in my heart when I first saw the photo. Perhaps it was the image of a innocent defenseless young child of the same species that was going to be torn apart by the scavenging creature.
I've watched countless of animals documentary. There was one video that I will always remember - and it is the first and only documentary that brought tears to my eyes.
In Brief: It was about the life of two male cheetahs in Africa that grew up together, hunting and looking out for each other. One fine day, one of the brother(Cheetah A) went out early to hunt for food for the both of them, in his course, he ventured too far away and got lost. When his brother (Cheetah B) woke up and realized that his brother (A) was missing, he went out to look for him. Every few metres, he would let out a high pitch sound (or chirping) to try to alert or call out for his brother. He combed many areas, for a few hours, under the hot desert climate. Eventually, all his energy was expended and he(B) took a rest near a tree.
During his rest, he continued to chirp out for his brother. As cliche as it sounds, his brother(A) happened to be nearby and when he heard the chirp, he chirped back and started to walk toward B. But Cheetah (B) chirping also caught the attention of a nearby lion and Cheetah B was attacked from behind by that lion. It turned out that the tree he was resting belonged to the lion and because of his tiredness, he failed to smell the lion's scent. In such a situation, typically, a cheetah can outrun and escape from the lion, but because of his languorous, was attacked and got badly injured.
His brother sensed something amiss, and started to sprint towards his brother's direction. Cheetah B managed to limp away and the lion didn't make further advancement(due to the fact that he wasn't hungry), but after limping a short distance, he collapsed as his hind area was badly injured. He(B) continued to chirp out so as to enable his brother to locate him. When Cheetah A reached him and saw that his brother was badly injured, his expression was painfully sad and confused at the same time. His brother(B-injured), was more of happy to see him, yet at the same time, you can see that he is in great pain.
They rubbed nose for a moment before they licked each other on the cheeks. This was the gesture of farewell. A flock of vultures was flying in circle over his brother. His death was imminent and the brothers knew that. Cheetah A reluctantly walked a few steps away from his brother, glancing back frequently. His injured brother kept looking at his brother, knowing that he will not have the chance to do that again. A few vultures landed near Cheetah B. Cheetah A stopped in his track(about 30metre away from his brother), and laid in such a way that he was looking perpendicularly away from his location. He just wanted to be close to his brother, yet at the same time, he could not bear to watch his painful (and cruel) death. The documentary ended when Cheetah B laid down his head..for the last time.
It was an extremely painful and sad video. The show lasted for an hour and was telecast many years ago. Yet I still remembered the story. I also remembered how much I hate vultures since that day. (And, yes, I knew it wasn't the vulture's fault.)
To be continued...
I felt the pain in my heart when I first saw the photo. Perhaps it was the image of a innocent defenseless young child of the same species that was going to be torn apart by the scavenging creature.
I've watched countless of animals documentary. There was one video that I will always remember - and it is the first and only documentary that brought tears to my eyes.
In Brief: It was about the life of two male cheetahs in Africa that grew up together, hunting and looking out for each other. One fine day, one of the brother(Cheetah A) went out early to hunt for food for the both of them, in his course, he ventured too far away and got lost. When his brother (Cheetah B) woke up and realized that his brother (A) was missing, he went out to look for him. Every few metres, he would let out a high pitch sound (or chirping) to try to alert or call out for his brother. He combed many areas, for a few hours, under the hot desert climate. Eventually, all his energy was expended and he(B) took a rest near a tree.
During his rest, he continued to chirp out for his brother. As cliche as it sounds, his brother(A) happened to be nearby and when he heard the chirp, he chirped back and started to walk toward B. But Cheetah (B) chirping also caught the attention of a nearby lion and Cheetah B was attacked from behind by that lion. It turned out that the tree he was resting belonged to the lion and because of his tiredness, he failed to smell the lion's scent. In such a situation, typically, a cheetah can outrun and escape from the lion, but because of his languorous, was attacked and got badly injured.
His brother sensed something amiss, and started to sprint towards his brother's direction. Cheetah B managed to limp away and the lion didn't make further advancement(due to the fact that he wasn't hungry), but after limping a short distance, he collapsed as his hind area was badly injured. He(B) continued to chirp out so as to enable his brother to locate him. When Cheetah A reached him and saw that his brother was badly injured, his expression was painfully sad and confused at the same time. His brother(B-injured), was more of happy to see him, yet at the same time, you can see that he is in great pain.
They rubbed nose for a moment before they licked each other on the cheeks. This was the gesture of farewell. A flock of vultures was flying in circle over his brother. His death was imminent and the brothers knew that. Cheetah A reluctantly walked a few steps away from his brother, glancing back frequently. His injured brother kept looking at his brother, knowing that he will not have the chance to do that again. A few vultures landed near Cheetah B. Cheetah A stopped in his track(about 30metre away from his brother), and laid in such a way that he was looking perpendicularly away from his location. He just wanted to be close to his brother, yet at the same time, he could not bear to watch his painful (and cruel) death. The documentary ended when Cheetah B laid down his head..for the last time.
It was an extremely painful and sad video. The show lasted for an hour and was telecast many years ago. Yet I still remembered the story. I also remembered how much I hate vultures since that day. (And, yes, I knew it wasn't the vulture's fault.)
To be continued...
1 comment:
Huh? Why must you say such a saddening show? sigh..
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