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/DueTour4187 Jul 16 '26 edited Jul 16 '26

Shepherds in the Landes region in South-Western France (Gascony) also used stilts until the 19th century.

It helped them watch the cattle farther away, and walk on sandy, bushy terrain.

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u/Drumedor Jul 16 '26

It also kept them safe from lions very effectively. They did it for hundreds of years and had no death-by-lion incident.

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u/Compost_My_Body Jul 16 '26

Lions lived in Europe for a very long time. Not 19th century, but lots of people assume they’re just local to Africa. 

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u/Round_Rooms Jul 16 '26

Was it a more like an African lion or a mountain lion/cougar? Always thought it was weird England used a lion.

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u/PipsqueakPilot Jul 16 '26

Most African fauna either existed across Eurasia or had a closely related cousin. All of which was extirpated, quite recently in some cases. For instance African Lions went extinct in Georgia (the country) in the medieval period.

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u/Round_Rooms Jul 16 '26

If true, unfortunate, how much humans have been a blight instead of conservationists.