It's Instinctual

The documentary, “Eternal Enemies,” depicts the vicious struggle for survival of both lions and hyenas and the rivalry between them. The creators of the documentary attributed the actions of the lions and hyenas to a survival instinct that coincides with Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest; those who were the strongest in each species survived, and those who were not died. At the end of the documentary, the voice over commented that lions and hyenas were “creatures of instinct” and because of this, cannot change their destinies. We can then infer from “Eternal Enemies” that, as humans are animals, they cannot be expected to act any differently from the lions and hyenas. If every other species of animal acts in certain ways because of their instincts and their drive to survive, humans cannot simply exempt themselves from having the most basic survival instincts. The conflicts that occurred within each single species in the documentary seemed to parallel occurrences in human life. First, there is clearly a distinct hierarchy within both the lion and hyena packs; each member follows that order so as not to be punished or exiled from the pack. Humans also create a hierarchy system, grant it a more complicated one, but within our societies, government or economics create the authority and those who follow. Most do not challenge this hierarchy so as to avoid the negative repercussions, such as being jailed. Also, with both the lions and the hyenas, there was a struggle over territory with those of the same species. At the end of the day, most of man’s struggles and wars come down to a fight over land or resources. This too can be seen as instinct, because without the land, a species would not have the food or resources they need to survive. Similar to the boundaries marked by the hyenas, all the land in the world has been divided up into extremely distinct territories, which, when honored, decrease conflict, and when challenged, create conflict. Humans have attempted to create a higher moral to control their actions and instincts, yet the film suggests that our morals cannot quell our basic instincts.