Lions and Tigers

Were there lions and tigers aboard Noah’s Ark?

 

However, the important issue here is that we have today three very popular and influential organizations that teach Young Earth Creationism:

Institute for Creation Research
Answers in Genesis
Creation Ministries International

All three of these organizations explicitly teach that there were no lions or tigers aboard the ark.

 

The cat kind provides a great example of the diversity God placed within the created kinds. Many Ark illustrations show lions, tigers, and other large cats boarding the Ark, but this concept is mistaken. All of these large cats are members of the same created kind, so Noah did not bring two tigers, two lions, etc. In fact, Noah needed a total of only two cats—studies have shown that all cats are part of the same created kind. This would include modern alley cats, the famous saber-toothed cat (Smilodon), and many other large cats, whether living or extinct.

Reimagining Ark Animals

 

Moreover, had the flood occurred, every terrestrial habitat on the earth would have been destroyed, and all of the herbivores who were still alive on the ark would have starved to death or died first from other causes. The carnivores would have eaten all of the herbivores—and each other!—and then all of the carnivores would have starved to death. Furthermore, had the flood occurred, every marine habitat would have been destroyed, and most of the marine animals would have died due to the radical change in the water chemistry of the oceans.

Nonetheless, CMI “defends” the story of the flood by calling to the witness stand a man named Tas Walker who has earned only a bachelor’s degree in a field of science—earth science, and not so much as a certificate of completion in any field of life science. He has also earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and he flaunts that degree to deceive people into believing that he is an expert regarding young earth creationism just as Henry Morris did with his Ph.D. in hydraulic engineering even though neither man’s education in engineering was relevant to young earth creationism. Henry Morris was considered by his peers to be an ignorant fool, and Walker appears me to be ridiculously ignorant of science, and even more ignorant of the Bible.

In his booklet, The Genesis Flood, Fact or Fiction?, Tas Walker agrees with John Woodmorappe’s teaching that the word “kind” in Genesis (Hebrew, מִין) refers to what we now call a genus, as in “the cat kind, the horse kind, and the cow kind.” But, of course, this is nothing but young earth creationist mumbo jumbo because, for example, the “cat kind” is not a genus, but a family (Felidae) comprised of 14 genera. Furthermore, Woodmorappe and Walker claim that all modern animals in the cat kind “descended” from one “parent kind.” But—what do they mean by the word, “descended”? They mean a biological process known by everyone else as “evolution”!

About 10.8 million years ago, the cat family began to split off into 8 Lineages consisting of 2 subfamilies, 14 genera, and 41 species. (Kitchener et al. 2017. (A revised taxonomy of the Felidae). The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group.) The relationship of these groups to each other and the relative time of their splitting off has been learned and very well documented by comparing DNA sequences of all 41 species of cats. The actual time of the splitting off is learned from fossil records which young earth creationist believe to be radically misinterpreted.

Leopards (Panthera pardus) and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) are phenotypically similar to each other, but genotypically dissimilar to each other. This is called convergent evolution and is due to the two genetically very different species having adapted to similar environments. Leopards belong to the Panthera Lineage that includes the leopards and six other species, but ocelots belong to the Leopardus lineage that includes the ocelots and seven other species. Both of these lineages descended (evolved) from the same Felid ancestor rather than one of them from the other. Therefore, it would have been absolutely necessary for one pair of cats (cats are ‘unclean animals—Leviticus 11)) from both lineages to have been aboard the ark. Moreover, as has been proven from DNA sequences, all seven of the species in the Panthera Lineage descended (evolved) independently from each other, and therefore, it would have been absolutely necessary for a pair of cats from all seven of the species in the Panthera Lineage to have been aboard the ark. Furthermore, the same would have been true of the other seven lineages and all of their species—for a total of not just 2, but 82 cats!

All 41 species of cats spray their very caustic urine all over everything that they wish to claim as their own. A male lion in captivity requires 8 pounds of food per day—that is 2,920 pounds of food that a male lion on board the ark would have needed to eat during its stay on board the ark—and its mate would have required 2,190 pounds of food. The total food requirement for the 82 cats would have been approximately 90,000 pounds of meat—90,000 pounds of meat that would have to have been fed to the cats by Noah and his family. And we are still talking about just the cats! And we have not yet gotten to their excrement!

We have today several hundred thousands of genetically discreet populations of animals that would necessarily have been aboard the ark 4,368 years ago, and during that time, thousands of genetically discreet populations of animals have become extinct, but would necessarily have been aboard the ark. DNA sequences do not lie, but Tas Walker makes a habit of it!

The purpose of the research was not to prove the theory of evolution or disprove the Bible; the purpose of the research was to get accurate data that will assist biologists in the protection of the biodiversity of the cat family and the other populations of wild animals—the very purpose of the ark! (From an unpublished email exchange)