harris@imsvax.UUCP (Harris Reavin) (10/14/85)
(bug food)
PBS had a show a few months ago about pygmies killing an elephant.
As I recall there was only one man in that particular tribe who had killed
an elephant. It had been done more than a year earlier and another man had died
in the attempt. Somehow the film makers convinced the pygmies to try it on
camera. Perhaps one of the film crew had an elephant rifle. The pygmies had
to borrow a large steel spear from another tribe in
exchange for half of the meat if they were successful. The other tribesmen
were unwilling to risk the danger. Supposedly the hunter succeeded and
nobody was killed.
It seems unlikely that any predator, including man, could survive
if it subsisted on dangerous prey animals. Even odds that favored the
predator 100 to 1 may be too risky. Hunting elephant sized animals with
primative weapons would probably cancel your life insurance policy.
--
Harris Reavin
UUCP: {umcp-cs!eneevax || seismo!rlgvax!elsie}!imsvax!harris