why do people overseas think that in South Africa we have Lions as PETS!!!! and also, people overseas tend to say "Oh i went to Africa" WHERE is Africa!!!!!???
2006-07-31 07:47:48 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ Africa & Middle East ➔ South Africa
Because they're stupid and don't know better. They practically know bugger all about Africa, let alone South Africa. I was asked if I could speak African and if I had an elephant as a pet. How stupid can people be!
Me, signing out
2006-07-31 16:39:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, first of all, saying "I went to Africa" is often easier than saying, "I went to Sudan" or "I went to Niger" or "I went to Sierra Leone" or whatever. Most of the time, if you say you went to a specific African country or city, people won't know that that city/country is in Africa...unless you went to Kenya or Egypt. Sad, but true. Africa is a continent, and saying you went there would be the equivalent of saying "I spent a summer in Europe."
As far as having wild animals for pets, people have seen too many movies like "Coming to America" (the Eddie Murphy movie where he's an African prince and his dad, the King, wears a lion skin cape) and they just assume that kind of stuff is true, because the only other stuff that they see about Africa is about starving children and AIDS.
Yes, it's unfortunate. No, you can't really do a whole lot about it, except politely educating people, one at a time, when they say something (or assume something) ridiculous.
2006-07-31 22:37:03 · answer #2 · answered by Jenn 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I blame TV. It's annoying but not a whole lot we can do. All they ever see is stuff on TV about nature programmes.
What really annoys me is when they talk about 'lions and tigers'. What TIGERS?? We don't even have tigers. And 'the jungle' ??? WHERE is there JUNGLE? And when they show me an Indian elephant and reckon it's Africa. I've never seen a wild Indian elephant in Africa. Why don't people know that there is a difference!
So yeah, it's TV. And Survivor: Africa probably didn't help.
2006-08-01 18:42:29 · answer #3 · answered by K 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The people overseas watch a lot of tv and the only information they get about South Africa is either negative or documentarial. Which means they don't have a clue about South Africa.
I live in Korea and I can tell you that most of this is true. I see SA on the tele all day and most of the programs are on AIDS or animals. So you can't really blame them. Their countries chose to show these programs and we have to deal with that.
What we can do is try to re-educate people on our country and show them sites they might learn from. Also we have to promote our country as much as we can. I do that every day in Korea. I've gotten over 300 people to visit SA in 2010 and 2 churches and 2 middle schools in Korea will try homestays in SA in the next year or so. Read this...
http://www.paarlpost.com/archive/100205/schools.html#korean
And if people are really ignorant and don't wanna listen, why don't you show them this "Lion's Share Video"...
http://southafrica-embassy.or.kr/eng/aboutsa/overview.php
Scroll down to Lions Share Video and watch!
And if they still argue, go along with what they say. I get lots of reaction when I tell people about how I got to school on my pet elephant and how my parents are having problems with their pet lions.
Cheers and have a merry time freaking this bozos out with lies they created for themselves.
2006-08-01 12:35:08 · answer #4 · answered by Porgie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I never thought people in Africa had lions as pets, I thought that lions ate people in Africa. Or at least that is what the Discovery Channel says.
2006-07-31 14:52:16 · answer #5 · answered by holyterrar85 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They say that because Africa is known for wildlife. They have never been to Africa so they just assume that this is what goes on. Dont get annoyed or be ugly to them. They dont know and you should just politely tell them what really happens.
2006-08-01 02:58:52 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because the only experience people have had is with zoo's where exotic animals- from our perspective, but boring animals from yours- are shown.
People, in this day and age who spend their entire lives in the city have no idea that those big cats would rather eat you than be petted by people.
2006-07-31 14:51:55 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Do people really say that? Well, those people are pretty dumb!
I live in Canada and all we evern hear is "Do you have polar bears as pets?", and "How do you put up with it snowing all year long?" It's 32° C (90° F) right now!
2006-07-31 14:54:18 · answer #8 · answered by Ism 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They also seem to think we live in the dark ages!
I had a guy ask me to send him a list of where to find ATMs so he can draw money. Others seem to think we live in huts in the middle of the jungle!
2006-07-31 14:52:00 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
people are ignorant and don't mind being ignorant.
I live in Alabama and you would not believe the number of people that think we all live in mobile homes or believe in UFO's.
Sad.
2006-07-31 15:06:27 · answer #10 · answered by bootsjeansnpearls 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋