Little Tyke the Veggy Lion
Ted Wayn Altar
I've had some positive e-mail about the story of Little Tyke,
the vegetarian lion. While there have been other stories of
"vegetarian" lions, this is one of the better documented cases.
I've typed out below James Peden's brief account (from his book,
"Vegetarian Cats & Dogs, 1992), which is largely based upon the
book written by the human caretaker of Little Tyke:
Westbeau, G. LITTLE TYKE. Bosie: Pacific Pr., 1956
LION LIGHTS
At four years old the mature African lioness weighted 352
lbs. Her body stretched 10 feet 4 inches long and could run
40 miles per hour. Her skull, highly adapted to killing and
eating prey, possessed short, powerful jaws. Normally,
African lions eat gnus, zebras, gazelles, impalas, and
giraffes. This particular big cat, in her prime and perfect
health, chose a more gentle way of life, vegetarian!
A VIOLENT BIRTH
Georges and Margaret Westbeau, standing outside the thick
steel bars of the cage, watched nervously. Inside, a
vicious, raging beast baring razor claws and glistening
fangs, roared. Flinging herself at the couple, how watched
from barely three feet away, her suffering amber eyes defied
their presence.
Always, in the past, this lioness destroyed her offspring as
soon as they were born. Four times in the last seven years,
her powerful jaws had crushed her newborn cubs, furiously
throwing them against her cage's bars where they tumbled,
lifeless.
Denying the normal instincts of motherhood, what possessed
this lioness? Her life mocked it's former freedom. She
lived a caged animal, taken from the wild and tortured by
those who captured her. Did she fell that by destroying her
cubs they would be spared the humiliation that she endured?
Suddenly, the newborn cub cam flying towards the people
anxiously watching. Georges quickly grabbed the cub through
the bars before it could be killed. Its right front leg
dangled helplessly from its mother's brutal jaws. In the
face of such fury the only thing the human could say was,
"you poor little tyke".
The Westbeaus took the 3 lb "Little Tyke" to their Hidden
Valley Ranch near Seattle and there it joined the menagerie
of other animals including horses, cattle, and chickens.
Curious peacocks lined the housetop, kittens peered through a
picket fence, and two terriers danced with joy for the new
addition to the household.
Drinking bottles of warm milk, Little Tyke began the long
road to recovery.
MYSTERIOUS REACTION
With the advice of experts the Westbeaus began weaning Little
Tyke onto sold food at three months. Leaving only a favorite
doll, they removed most of her rubber toys, replacing them
with bones from a freshly slaughtered beef. They carried the
small cub to the bones. Unexpectedly, she violently threw
up!
Experts told them in no uncertain terms that lions couldn't
live without meat. In the wild, lions ate only flesh --
eleven lbs. a day for an adult female. Alarmed at Little
Tyke's strange behavior, they wondered at how they could
introduce meat into her diet? In the meantime, they
continued feeding Little Tyke baby cereal mixed with milk. A
well meaning friend suggested mixing beef blood with milk, in
increasing proportions. Given milk containing ten drops of
blood, Little Tyke would have nothing to do with it. they
mixed in five drops of blood, and hid that bottle. As she
sucked on the plain milk they quickly switched bottles.
Again she refused it. In desperation they added ONE drop of
blood to a full bottle of milk, but Little Tyke refused this
bottle as well, and they could only stare in amazement.
Another friend suggested putting milk in one hand, and milk
mixed with hamburger in the palm of the other hand. Little
Tyke readily licked the milk from one hand, but when Georges
changed hands, she immediately turned away. Sensing her
distress, Georges wiped his hands on a nearby towel and
picked her up. Hissing in fear and cringing away, she looked
sick from the danger-smell of meat on his hand. She only
settled down when given a fresh bottle of milk held in washed
hands.
THE $1,000 REWARD
At 9 months old and weighting 65 lbs, Little Tyke had the
splints and bandages on her leg taken off for the last time.
She slowly learned to depend on the healed leg, and mingled
with other animals on the ranch.
Since the ranch didn't earn enough income to make ends meet,
the Westbeaus ran a small cold storage plant in town. Little
Tyke came with them when they went to work and word got
around about this vegetarian lioness. When she was 4 years
old, the Westbeaus advertised a 1,000 dollar reward for
anyone one could devise a method tricking Little Tyke into
eating meat. Numerous plans met with failure since Little
Tyke refused to have anything to do with flesh.
. . .
LITTLE TYKE'S MEALS
A typical meal consisted of various grains, chosen for their
protein, calcium, fats, and roughage. Margaret always
cooked a few days' supply ahead of time. At feeding time, a
double handful of the cooked grains along with 1/2 gallon of
milk with 2 eggs, supplied Little Tyke a delicious meal. She
had one condition before eating. Her favorite rubber doll
had to be right next to her!
For teeth and gums, the Westbeaus supplied rubber boots since
she refused bones. they attracted her to the boots by
sprinkling them with perfume. One boot lasted almost a
month. Little Tyke had many close animal friends. Her
favorites were Pinky (a kitten), Imp (another kitten), Becky
(a lamb) and Baby (a fawn). Her favorite and closest friend,
however, was Becky, who preferred Little Tyke's company to
any of the other animals.
NATIONAL PUBLICITY
"You Asked For It", the popular television show hosted by Art
Baker, once featured Little Tyke. The producers wanted a
scene with chickens, which didn't bother Georges since Little
Tyke roamed easily among chickens at Hidden Valley Ranch.
When the film crew brought the chickens in, they turned out
to be four little day-old chicks!
SLURP OF THE TONGUE
Little Tyke's only previous experience with new chicks had
been with a hen and her chicks who had wondered onto the
lawns around their home on the ranch. Georges thought
nothing of it until he saw Little Tyke acting peculiarly,
slinking into the house, and looking guilty with lips tightly
closed over obviously open jaws. He called, "Tyke! What
have you got?" Instantly her mouth opened and a little chick
popped out, unharmed. Flapping its little down-covered
wings, it almost flew back to its upset mother. Apparently
Little Tyke had affectionately licked the tiny chick, as she
was prone to do when, with one huge slurp of the tongue, the
little chick had popped into her mouth, and she hadn't known
how to fondle it further!
With the amazed camera crew filming, Little Tyke strode over
to the chicks, hesitated long enough to lick the chicks
CAREFULLY and GENTLY with the very TIP of her tongue, and
moved away with a a yawn. A moment later she came back to
lie down among the chicks. They immediately made their way
into the long silky hair at the base of her great neck where
they peered out form the shelter of their great protector.
Another scene saw a new kitten, after an introduction, walk
over to Little Tyke's huge foreleg and sit down. Little Tyke
crooked one paw around the tiny creature and cuddled it
closer.
In front of cameras, Art Baker picked up a BIBLE and read:
"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion
shall eat straw like the bullock."
Mail poured into the producers, making this episode one of
the most popular in the show's history.
LITTLE TYKE'S DEATH
Unfortunately, while spending 3 weeks in Hollywood for the
show, Little Tyke contracted virus pneumonia, a disease that
took her life f few weeks later. The sudden change in
climate may have been a contributing factor. She succumbed
quietly in her sleep, retiring early after watching
television.
INSPIRING TO THIS DAY
Her life is over, but her teachings live on. Of the many
lessons she taught, not the least is that love removes fear
and savagery. Little Tyke reflected the love and care shown
to her after the first few moments of her precarious birth.
Thousands saw photographs of her lying with her lamb friend,
Becky, inspiring many to see the world a fresh way: two such
diverse natures enjoying each other's love! One eminent
attorney kept a huge enlargement of this photograph in his
office, and pointed to it as he counseled couples on the
verge of divorce.
SCIENTIFIC DILEMMA
Science is at loss when it comes to Little Tyke. felines are
the strictest of carnivores. Without flesh she should have
developed blindness, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a
degenerative disease that turns heart muscles flabby,
limiting their ability to pump blood. This is because her
diet didn't contain an adequate source of taurine.
Not known to be essential in the 1950's, research at UC Davis
in 1976 proved that taurine is an essential nutrient for
felines, the lack of which would cause degeneration of the
retina. later research implicated inadequate taurine levels
in dilated cardiomyopathy as well. For cats with DCM, if the
disease has not progressed too far, administering taurine
causes an almost miraculous recovery. Formerly, cats only
lived a few days to weeks after diagnosis.
Taurine is non-existent in natural non-animal sources. It is
present in minute amounts in milk and eggs. Little Tyke
COULD have gotten her taurine requirement from milk, IF she
drank 500 gallons per day, or from eggs IF she ate more than
4,000 per day. How DID Little Tyke get taurine?
So, we end with a mystery. Now, one explanation would be that
the story is an clever hoax. Well, maybe so, but what is not
fake is the witnessed fact that Little Tyke did not attack small
animals on her farm (Becky the lamb, Pinky the kitten, etc.). Of
course, maybe this is not too unusual. More interesting is that
Little Tyke did reject raw meat given to her from outsiders.
Could this be training? Remember folks, the reason I mentioned
this story which others have published, is simply to provide a
possible exception to Jill's correct observation that lions don't
normally prefer plant foods over flesh foods (although wild lions
and tigers do often go straight for their victim's stomach after
making a kill, devouring the soup of digesting vegetation as a
starter, and several wild cat species seek to supplement their
diet with some fruit or vegetable tidbits)
Another explanation besides fraud is that maybe indeed Little
Tyke was an exceptional lion. After all, there are individual
differences and most of the research on taurine needs for felines
is based upon the domestic cat, not upon lions. Maybe Little
Tyke also obtained some taurine, and maybe just enough, during
her 1 hour grazing in the field where insect matter would have
been ingested. In any case, it is true that her apparent lack of
the expected dietary need for taurine simply goes unexplained,
but so do many things which later turn out to be explicable as
our scientific knowledge of things grows.
ted
Rich Young
[...Little Tyke story deleted...]
>So, we end with a mystery. Now, one explanation would be that
>the story is an clever hoax.
"An" clever hoax? Indeed we have been treated to an interesting,
if somewhat overwrought and emotional, story which proves nothing
regarding the vegetarian inclinations of felines. I am reminded of
the famous counting horse, which was eventually shown to be watching
his master for the answers.
>Well, maybe so, but what is not
>fake is the witnessed fact that Little Tyke did not attack small
>animals on her farm (Becky the lamb, Pinky the kitten, etc.). Of
>course, maybe this is not too unusual.
Indeed, it's NOT too unusual. There is a plethora of anecdotes
regarding the peaceful coexistence of felids and all manner of
mammalian, avian, and reptilian companions. It is also a well-known
fact that cats, as with most carnivores, must be taught that certain
things are foods; this knowledge is generally supplied by example
by the mother. If such examples are not forthcoming, then the kitten
(or cub) will never associate animals with the concept of food, and
may, in fact, reject what other cats normally accept.
>More interesting is that
>Little Tyke did reject raw meat given to her from outsiders.
See above. Given what we know about feline nutrition...and let me
say that the rigors of animal maintenance in zoos have provided a
wealth of knowledge regarding the proper diet for non-domestic
felids...I cannot believe that the story of Little Tyke is anything
but a total, if engaging, hoax. Let's see the story told by an
expert in animal medicine who's not bent on promoting a vegetarian
diet for cats and dogs, as are the Pedens.
[...]
-Rich Young (These are not Kodak's opinions.)
abul...@aton.abo.fi
has generated. There are probably hundreds of them in
the non-physical sciences, and a few in the physical
sciences as well. Newton's law was the gospel till the
theory of relativity was understood and found to be
genuine.
Abhay
Ted Wayn Altar
Abhay (abul...@aton.abo.fi) writes:
There is the wry remark that if you get two nutritionists on the
same panel, you'll get 3 opinions! ;-) :-) ;-)
Now, anomalies are actually the very stuff of science, as Thomas
Kuhn and others has well-argued. Good creative science doesn't
discount anomalies prematurely but seeks them out. The liability
of THEORY BLINDNESS does occur in what Kuhn calls "normal
science", but we must remember that science is a pluralist,
collective enterprise and we should not judge science-as-a-whole-
over-time simply by the stubborn theory blindness that can occur
in the short run among some or even many scientists. A certain
conservativeness is necessary to ensure that knowledge builds by
cumulatively advancing upon the achievements of the past.
Notwithstanding, I think your point is well taken. Yes, our
knowledge about human nutrition is incomplete and advice from
mainstream nutritionists have not always shown themselves
judicious or correct in retrospect. And yes, our knowledge of
non-human animal nutrition is even more incomplete, except maybe
for the nutrition of the white laboratory rat. ;-(
The phenomena of Little Tyke does pose a question for science. I
do agree that it would be rash and prejudicial to automatically
and immediately discount the story as a mere hoax. After all,
the Westbeau's were for many years really quite desperate about
trying to feed some meat products to Little Tyke, they sought
rather than avoided expert advice, they tried all manner of
tricks to get Little Tyke to eat meat, and they were shy of
publicity. All counter-indications that they were deliberate
hoaxers.
In fact, nothing extraordinary need be postulated to explain
Little Tyke's apparent ability to survive without an obvious
flesh source of taurine. As I mentioned, we don't really know
how much taurine from insect matter Little Tyke might have been
consuming, nor do we really know the full individual range of
need for taurine in all lions. After all, RDA levels are always
more than what the greater majority of individuals actually need
biologically, so as to have a built in safety factor for some of
those unusual individuals whose biological need would be much
greater than normal. Well, there are also unusual individuals
whose dietary need is less than average.
Permit me to say that I do think that the science of nutrition
has made some remarkable advances in recent times and that blind
beliefs are to be found everywhere, not just in science. In
fact, I think more blind beliefs are to be found outside of
science then within it.
Should we not always be wary of falling into the general anti-
science and anti-intellectualism that is paradoxically present in
Western culture? Indeed, along with this anti-intellectualism we
have the opposite of an excessive admiration for science that
becomes the quasi-religious attitude of "SCIENTISM". I think
that a balance of healthy and informed skepticism along with
humility and open-mindedness has to here be constantly sought and
renewed.
Certainly, we need to be fair-minded and weary of our own
prejudices and tendency to self-justify one's own beliefs as
"scientific" but those of one's opponents as "non-scientific" or
due to "scientific blindness". But as it has always been, the
greater blindness lies in the human heart, especially when it
comes to considering the needs of others, particularly the needs
of the suffering animals that we would wontonly eat as food and
uncaring treat as mere "material resource".
ted
Barbara Hlavin
>Certainly, we need to be [...] weary of our own prejudices
Oh, I am, I am!
Thanks for the laugh, Ted.
--Barbara
Ted Wayn Altar
Ted Wayn Altar writes:
>>Certainly, we need to be [...] weary of our own prejudices
Barbara Hlavin comments:
>Oh, I am, I am!
>Thanks for the laugh, Ted.
You're welcome Barbara! Of course, you *are* referring to
the joke I cited about the 2 nutritionists getting together to
conclude with 3 separate opinions, aren't you? ;-) ;-)
Here is another joke from yours truly that you might enjoy:
How many vegetarians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Answer: it takes none since if they water the socket the bulb
will grow-glow on its own. :-) Sorry, but I guess you have
to have a dyslexic ear like mine to appreciate that one ("Do
you know about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac? He lays
awake in bed at night wondering if there is a Dog.")
Here's another one. How many vegetarians from this
conference is needed to screw in a full-spectrum lightbulb?
Answer: Just Ted Altar on his soapbox will suffice! :-) ;-) :-)
I'll leave it to others to answer the question: How many
omnivores does it take to *unscrew* a lightbulb.
Cheers,
ted
Drew Corrigan
>In article <altar.7...@sfu.ca> al...@beaufort.sfu.ca
>(Ted Wayn Altar) writes:
>>
>>Certainly, we need to be [...] weary of our own prejudices
Weary, wary or both :-)?
Drew.
Ted Wayn Altar
I guess it should be weary or one's own and wary of the next guy's :-(
If we are not at least a little discontented or vexed with ourselves,
if we are too self-satisfied, I don't thing we are likely to change.
"While not exactly disgruntled,
he was far from feeling gruntled"
Wodehouse [from "The Code of the Woosters"]
Keep well and steady as she goes with those New Year resolutions ;-)
ted
.
Patrick Hester
given:
1 cats are normally carnivorous
2 Little Tyke was a vegetarian cat
3 cats go blind without taurine
4 taurine is only found in dead animals products
5 Little Tyke wouldn't eat meat put in front of her
Isn't it safe to assume that Little Tyke wouldn't eat the meat put
in front of her because she couldn't see it, having gone blind from
lack of taurine in her diet?
--
Patrick Hester p...@pencom.com (212) 513-7777 NeXT Mail OK =8(\/\)