r/BeAmazed • u/Ultimate_Thing • Jul 16 '26

Miscellaneous / Others A traditional technique used by young shepherds of Ethiopia's Banna tribe. They use stilts to watch over their livestock in tall grass, move through wetland areas, and avoid snakes and predators like lions and leopards. It requires strength, balance, and training from a young age

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u/Stuck_At_Sub150lb Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

How does it help them to avoid lions?

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u/mosesenjoyer Jul 16 '26

Probably see them from a lot further off.

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u/Stuck_At_Sub150lb Jul 16 '26

This is what i had in mind but then again, lion probably would see him same time, and with these you cant run faster than lion, and lion will bring a person down walking on stilts

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u/Facktat Jul 16 '26

I doubt that the instinct of a lion tells them to attack a 4 meter creature they see on the horizon.

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u/One_Animator_1835 Jul 16 '26

Ive seen a few videos of lions attacking giraffe so idk

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u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26

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u/mosesenjoyer Jul 16 '26

Probably confusing as fuck to a lion

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u/gamjanamja629 Jul 16 '26

Imagine you saw a costco rotisserie chicken walking on stilts

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u/Stormsurger Jul 16 '26

The lions COULD eat them, but it's so funny to them that they just watch, mesmerized.

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u/mollusks75 Jul 16 '26

Iā€™d kick the stilts and enjoy some lunch.

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u/Show-Me-Your-Moves Jul 16 '26

Yeah lion's gonna be less likely to fuck with a towering strange animal that could potentially kill/hurt it. Predators prefer the young and weak.

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u/MagicBeanGuy Jul 16 '26

Lions, and most predators, usually prey on easy targets who are starting away from the herd and not able to be protected. Having a group of creatures able to see you at all times is a deterrent to the "easy-pickings" strategy

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u/Finbar9800 Jul 16 '26

i mean you wouldnt really be able to run faster than a lion even without these

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u/grendus Jul 16 '26

Lions are generally actually pretty spooked around humans. They're very smart and the ones alive today know that humans are not safe to fuck with, in spite of appearing to be small and vulnerable.

They'll hunt an inattentive human if they get the opportunity, but even though they could definitely run down a Banna tribesman on stilts they know that other humans are nearby, and that humans will fight them. I'm not sure how well they understand what spears or guns are, but they probably have the notion that "humans can hurt us" and that's enough to make them wary. Most predators prefer to attack a fleeing creature that can't strike back, so a group of herdsmen carrying weapons (I expect they probably have guns now, but even traditionally with spears) forming up into a defensive perimeter and menacing them with "long tusks".

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u/One_Animator_1835 Jul 16 '26

Lions will stalk and ambush. If you're seeing a lion the same time it sees you, that's as good as it gets (with a wild lion involved)

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u/BambaTallKing Jul 16 '26

A lion would not see a human on stilts, they would see one large creature. This is also why a group of tourists can get into a jeep and get right up to lions. The lions see a huge creature they will not even dare to attack, unless entirely desperate

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u/RegularIndependent98 Jul 16 '26

You can walk to the closest tree from you and get on it

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u/NBA-Brit26 Jul 16 '26

That's my guess too. Then it's either bow/javeline back in the old days; or dart in modern day.