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I had to search for why they called lions the kings of the jungle and I realized something funny, they're called kings of a place they don’t even live in.
But that’s not the focus of this blog though. I bumped into an animal documentary of a Lion attempting to take down a rhino which was almost three times its size.
You would think the alleged top predator would just stand its ground but that just isn't the case. The rhino is literally built like a freaking compact car, has super thick skin and no teeth can come through it, and that horn is a death sentence, it could break bones or possibly worse.
Lions are super smart predators we have to give them that, they hunt together, plan together and strategize together. But a pride will look at a healthy adult rhino and know that killing it is going to be way too much work and so way too dangerous for the lions. They are just way too heavy and strong. If you're a lion and you get stepped on or tossed by the rhino's horn, you are done.
But they still earn their title because being king is not always about being the strongest or toughest, it's also being smart enough to know which enemy to fight and which to retreat from. At least that’s how I think about it. Lions definitely still hunt big animals, but they definitely respect strength.
One quote I can't forget is "it's not the size of the dog in a fight it's the size of the fight in the dog" but sometimes size prevails. A reputation will not keep you from getting killed by a larger creature.