King Geedorah said:
While I have always hated cliches one thing springs to mind, can a leopard change its spots?
The obvious answer is no, I say no but a leopard can bathe in mud to temporarily mask them, then when the rain season comes that mud is washed away and the leopard is laid bare; spots and all. Now while many thought we had a lion, the kind of beast that commands the respect of the entire plain, I initially thought we had a leopard. Alas I was tricked, but I believe the rain season has come and laid bare the reality. We have a leopard, and it certainly cannot change it's spots.
Now some will say a leopard is what we want; what we need. Elegance is guaranteed with style and panache in equal measure, and you also get a predator. But really, is leopard top predator? Of course not. While many fear it there is a select few who don't, and even more than that instill the kind of fear in the leopard that is reserved only for the lowliest of herbivores. Tell me this, if leopards are so formidable why do they need to climb trees?
To get off the plain where the true beasts rule supreme.
Now I am all for leopards, but people need to realise that if we really want to rule the plain we need lions, tigers, rhinos etc. Not lowly leopards.
A few months on from this I'm getting a better idea of the situation. Whether we have a lion or leopard is irrelevant.
Because some animals do not thrive in captivity.
Sure your cat might love the food and affection in return for his platonic grace, your dog might bathe in your heart like an oblivious disciple and even your little gold fish will endlessly swim for the flakes you lovingly sprinkle every time the thought crosses your mind.
And even the odd lion, we're talking a real prize lion, can dominate his pride in light of the meat-jeep overlords and he'll roar like he isn't belittled by the children's fearless awe and he'll still show token aggression to the workers who shovel his shite. But we don't have a prize lion.
We have a timid little leopard. It's all too happy to wait for the others to be done with the free meat, he'll cower in the shadows in sunordinance to his infantile rulers and worst of all he'll run scared from those who shovel his shite.
I don't like timid little leopards. They worry me, because when the going gets tough, they just run for the hills.
My solution? Temporarily send the leopard back to the plains he was born. The end result could go two ways, he comes back a prize leopard with renewed fight or he doesn't come back. Personally I think it's worth the risk.