Botswana by Keith Hemstreet

Author:Keith Hemstreet
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781608325863
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Published: 2013-06-21T21:00:00+00:00

WYATT

AUGUST 25, 11:47 PM

OKAVANGO DELTA

13° CELSIUS, 55° FAHRENHEIT

SKIES CLEAR, WIND CALM

I am awake and, to be completely honest, not feeling as strong as I would like. I think the day’s excitement, combined with the long trek through the bush, has sapped me of all my energy. It is difficult even to write, but I have to make a few notes about our experience with the elephants today.

Walking along a dried-out riverbed, we encountered for the first time the sad consequences of poaching. Under the shade of the trees, we saw a female elephant lying on her side with a severe wound to her right hind leg. She had stepped into a poacher’s trap, and a wire snare was wrapped tightly around the lower part of her leg. The snare had torn through the elephant’s tough skin, and the wound had become terribly infected. The infection was so bad the elephant could no longer walk.

Tcori said there was nothing we could do. This poor elephant was dying, and it was only a matter of time before the scavengers moved in to feast on her remains. Once the scavengers had done their job, the poacher would return to collect the tusks. In an effort to prevent this, Chocs radioed the elephant’s coordinates to Jubjub, who, in turn, radioed the authorities. It is the practice of the government to remove a dead elephant’s tusks and store them in a vault. They do this to keep the tusks out of the poachers’ hands.

A large bull elephant circled the female elephant like a husband mourning his wife. With his tusks, the bull tried desperately to lift his companion. It was as if the bull would not accept the sad fate of his mate. It even appeared that the bull was crying. Chocs explained that elephants have glands located just behind their eyes that excrete a fluid when they get stressed. This fluid, which streams down the side of an elephant’s face, looks like tears.

To me, the tears were proof that the bull elephant was sad. People think animals don’t feel. That’s not true; animals do feel and some, like the elephant, show great emotion.

With that, I must now close this entry. I am feeling weaker and more feverish with each passing minute. I have to get some rest if I hope to feel better by morning.

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