a lion born with Down syndrome

[ImStillMags Mags]

 ·

He was born different. While other lion cubs fought and pounced, Neo sat quietly, watching butterflies and following birds through the tall grass. His face was softer, his movements slower — his spirit, gentler.

Rangers soon noticed his unusual traits. They believed Neo might be the first wild lion showing signs similar to Down syndrome — slower reflexes, rounder features, but a heart unlike any other.

At first, the pride didn’t understand him. But as time passed, they began to protect him. The matriarch waited when he lagged behind. The cubs played more gently. And Neo, in return, brought peace.

He was kind in a world built on power — grooming wounded lions, comforting frightened cubs, even sharing food with the weak.

Researchers called him the gentle lion — a living reminder that strength isn’t always loud.

Neo grew into adulthood, still different, still loved. He never ruled through fear — only calm. And in doing so, he changed how we see the wild.

Because sometimes, the most powerful roar is kindness itself.

[Irie]

Down syndrome is specific to humans and is caused by having an extra copy of human chromosome 21 (trisomy 21).

Lions have a completely different number and structure of chromosomes than humans, so the condition as defined simply can’t occur in them.

[Navy]

Awwwwww...he's cute. 

That being said....It's hard to be kind to people who are trying to kill you, control you., to have power to do so forever by trying to cheat the masses into believing your hatred is in fact 'kindness'. Luckily we're too smart to let them do that.

[BEZARK]

Was widespread mild Down the origin of civilization?

[Lobo]

LOL! Pardon my cynicism, but that sounds just a little too "nice" to be true -- like one of those click-forever stories about a wolf coming to a hospital to find someone to free his/her mate from from some barbed wire, or whatever. Retarded or not, you can bet he'd eat your ass if he was hungry.

[BEZARK]

click-forever stories

=====

I knew those things must have, or needed, a name.

[Lobo]

There's some scam involved in them, but I'm not sure what it is.

[ImStillMags Mags]

I fact checked it.  The images are real, the story is largely made up.

[Lobo]

He does look kind of "cute" -- sort of like "Itchy Brother" in "King Leonardo of Bongo Congo And His Short Subjects" -- but I wouldn't trust him for as long as it took me to get to a lion-proof shelter. Big African lions have had a few recent centuries to learn to be warier of humans, with our pointed spears, our "thunder sticks", and other deadly human tricks, but millions of years before that to look at humans and our fellow apes as food.

As species that we're driving to extinction, we need to protect lions from us. But as individual animals in the open wild (or wherever they can get to us when they're hungry), it's the other way around. Killing and eating us is in their DNA.