Witch-Hunt: Battle at Kruger

One of intelligent animals’ great abilities is that of organizing in order to benefit the group. Among the most watched videos on You Tube is an 8 minute clip called “Battle at Kruger.” The video shows a herd of water buffalos being attacked by a pride of lions, one of which manages to sink its teeth into a calf. When the calf’s life seems lost for sure in the jaws of the lion, a crocodile jumps out of the water and tries to wrestle the calf away from the lion. Poor calf! Surely it is doomed now, stuck between lions and crocodiles. Unexpectedly, the buffalo herd returns ready to claim the calf back. I will not tell you how it ends, so you will watch the video and learn an important human and civic lesson: Strength is in unity in the defense of freedom. Even though we have to fight lions and crocodiles, and the battle looks lost in the jaws of one or another, if the herd sticks together and support defensive tactics, freedom can be won strategically. But just like there are constructive and intelligent collective actions, there are also destructive collective acts. There are abundant examples throughout history of minorities entrenched in power exploiting the majority, or a comparatively advantaged majority exploiting a debilitated minority.

The so-called witch-hunts are one of the destructive results of the human race’s ability to organize itself in order to destroy a perceived common threat. The problem is that there are evil witches that like the lions in the video, deserve to be defied and exterminated, but there are also good witches, agents of change and innovation, that deserve none of that. Extermination groups can be used for good or evil. They are concentrations of the power of many to respond to the excessive power of a minority, or the grouping of few seeking to recover their voice. One thing we learn from the buffalos is that they are not dumb animals. They have an undoubtedly creative capacity to strategize and organize themselves. Interestingly, once they achieve their objective, they do not have criminal minds. Once they scare off the lions, they let them go, even though they could have exterminated them.

So many people are under the attack of hungry lions, and like the calf in the video, have few defenses outside the power of the herd. Unfortunately, the human herd does not always respond consistently to rescue a calf from the claws of a lion. Other times, it is the pride of lions that abuses the minority and gets away with it.

Either way, sooner or later, humans and animals arm themselves to hunt witches, good or evil. Unlike the noble buffalos, when we get together to hunt we usually end up destroying more than what we build, and in the process innocents end up paying for the sins of others. Some people have been, and continue to be, abused by shameless and powerful minorities. The moment will come when crocodiles or buffalos step up and defend the calves. We hope that in the process of witch hunting we do not destroy morality and nobility both at the individual and collective level. Chile achieved this; Argentina did for a while but later ended up losing it. Colombia has rebuilt, little by little and with persistence, all the losses accumulated over years of civil battles. That is something political leaders can achieve. The fundamental role of political leadership is motivating a society to achieve personal and collective success, rescue calves from lions, but without causing disaster and the destruction of institutions and lives. It is a task that requires intelligence, subtlety, humility, and determination. It is not a task for despots. Tyranny is not a useful form of leadership. Tyranny oppresses and destroys. The Battle at Kruger is the most simple and inspiring metaphor I have seen in a long time. Buffalos can teach us more than we could have ever imagined.