Chapter 10 Elephant Cemetery Life and Death Struggle

In late April 2003, I organized an expedition team of eleven people into the Masarobi jungle in southern Kenya. Among them were Germans, British, Americans, and four hired as guides and The porters were from the local Luo tribe. In addition, we also took a specially trained hound, Sai Ke.The purpose of our trip was to find elephant cemeteries that have plagued the biology community for many years.For thousands of years, people have never found the body of a dead elephant in the wild. Therefore, there are legends that elephants will leave the herd alone before dying and go to a mysterious place to meet their doomsday.It was a pleasure to cooperate with everyone along the way. Before the official start of this expedition, Chad, Esmond and Martin and I had made careful preparations.The only woman on the expedition, Liu Ya, is a young Ph.D. in biology who, like me, is from China.

After more than half a month of searching, we found nothing, and we were all exhausted.Just when everyone was about to give up, the careful Liu Ya found a faltering, depressed old elephant among the wild elephants.We tested the feces of the old elephant and learned that he had serious digestive problems, which means he probably won't live long.After careful research, we decided to follow the old elephant.After following the elephant herd for more than 20 days, Liu Ya observed the abnormal behavior of the sick old elephant: it began to refuse to eat, howled mournfully all night, and its activity was greatly reduced.One morning, we found that the old elephant silently walked into the depths of the jungle under the quiet gaze of the whole herd, and there was a long sad howl behind it.The whereabouts of the stray old elephant are unpredictable, just like an agent with anti-tracking ability, changing tricks from time to time to get rid of possible followers. Fortunately, we have advanced detection equipment and dedicated hound Syke, so the An old elephant never disappears from our view for more than two days.In order to find it easier in the future, Liu Ya drew a road map while walking.

After painstakingly following it for over a week, we found the old elephant stopped near a valley of the river.It flapped its huge ears and seemed to be listening to the movement around it. We held our breath, lying in the bushes a kilometer away and secretly observing with high-powered binoculars.After enduring nearly four hours of suffering, we finally saw the old elephant turn and walk towards a hidden cave.The cave is above the river, and the entrance of the cave is covered with dense vegetation and huge stones. The old elephant used his long trunk to push aside a few thick trees and stones lying on the entrance of the cave, and then walked in; then, we Saw it protrude its snout out of the hole, curling up trees and boulders to cover the hole artfully...

Discovery of the cemetery We are all overjoyed at this amazing discovery.That night, I used a satellite locator to measure the geographic coordinates of the elephant cemetery, and then I saved the data properly, and told Liu Ya to keep the hand-drawn route map well, so as not to let the secrets spread out.Otherwise, criminals who covet the expensive ivory in the elephant cemetery will be attracted.However, the next morning, Liu Ya reported to me that the road map was missing!We searched carefully around the campsite, but did not find the missing route map.I realize the seriousness of the situation, there is a mole among the eleven of us, and he or they have stolen the road map.I felt that the coordinate data hidden close to me was still there, so I quickly ordered Liu Ya to draw a new map from memory.Then, I gathered everyone together and asked about the whereabouts of the road map in as tactful a tone as possible, but everyone said they didn't see it.I asked Chad and Martin to be supervisors, and everyone checked their pockets and backpacks, but still found no road map.I had no choice but to order the team to move out, but at this moment, something unexpected happened.

The four hired Luo tribesmen went on strike. They thought that we had extended the expedition plan and paid them too little compensation.I offered to give them another two hundred dollars each when I went back.They still don't follow.One of them, named Bena, pointed to the elephant tomb and said bluntly that he would not need any compensation as long as he got one tusk.Liu Ya and I immediately objected, because ivory trafficking is a serious crime.But those four locals took our three automatic rifles into their hands at some point. They forced us to cut down a big straight tree, and then used the tree as a simple lever to pry for several hours before prying the hole open a gap that could allow one person to enter and exit, and a putrid smell immediately wafted out.Just when everyone hesitated to go in, there was a sudden commotion in the cave, and the dying old elephant rushed out staggeringly, but was immediately knocked down by the violent flames from the semi-automatic rifle. There were several long mournful howls.

Now that the unavoidable fact has been created, I had no choice but to carry the camera into the cave to shoot in order to obtain precious materials.Inside, as I expected, it was full of white elephant bones and tusks, and there were several undecomposed elephant carcasses emitting a stench.Bena and the locals each picked up a pair of ivory, and then exited the cave contentedly. He even returned the gun to me and said with a smile: "Zhao, this cooperation is a pleasure! In order to protect the safety of my companions and I It's safe, let's go out of the jungle separately now, I'll keep the other two guns first, and I'll return them to you later." I stared at him angrily and said, "Now, you should return that road map to me!" Bei Na denies stealing the road map, saying a pair of ivory is all he needs.After speaking, the four of them disappeared into the depths of the dense jungle with heavy ivory on their backs.The remaining seven of us were covering the hole again when we heard a sudden burst of gunfire from the jungle.Not long after, the four of them ran back panting and panicked.When Bena saw us, he shouted: "Run, the herd of elephants is coming!" Although I didn't see the herd of elephants immediately, I could already hear the characteristic "click" sound when the elephant trampled on the jungle. Absolutely not a lot.It occurred to me that the dying old elephant must have been calling his companions to come and take revenge.I realized the danger of the situation, so I ordered everyone to evacuate quickly, and if it was too late, climb up the tall trees.

Chad and I climbed a tree that was four feet in diameter with the hound Thyke; the Luaus, who were also better climbers, quickly crouched in a smaller tree. Liu Ya was weak and couldn't climb the tree, so she had to immerse her whole body in a nearby stream; Martin, Esmond and four others climbed another big tree.After a while, about 30 wild elephants appeared in my field of vision. Seeing that the sacred cemetery was violated, they became extremely violent, and kept hitting the big tree where we were hiding with their bulky bodies. Bena and the others took up guns and shot at the elephants. I stopped them loudly, because elephants are not only precious wild animals, but excessively provoking them will only arouse the other party's stronger desire for revenge.But Bena turned a deaf ear, and they continued to slaughter frantically, four or five wild elephants fell to death under the tree one after another.The wild elephants were enraged, and they began to concentrate their strength to attack the big tree, and soon the big tree fell down, and the four Luo tribesmen were trampled into a puddle of flesh by the wild elephants in an instant.The wild elephants began to attack the big tree where we and Esmond and the others were hiding.Soon, cracks began to appear on the branch they were clinging to, and two people had to move to another thinner branch, but none of the four wanted to go, and Martin and Esmond suddenly put the other two in the middle of the dispute. The expedition team pushed down the tree, and the poor two became the sacrifices of wild elephants again.I reprimanded them angrily, but they retorted eloquently, if we didn't do this, everyone would die!At this time, Liu Ya, who was hiding in the stream, suddenly screamed in horror, and then ran towards the bank desperately, and it turned out that a ferocious crocodile attacked her.The wild elephant started to shift its target and rushed towards Liu Ya.But a wild elephant, perhaps because of its overweight, got stuck in the swamp at the bottom of the stream, and the ferocious crocodile swam over immediately, ready to kill.

At this time, dozens of wild elephants rushed over at the same time, some fought with the crocodile, some used their long trunks to drag their companions who were in trouble to the shore, and some used their bodies to push their companions out of the swamp.Taking advantage of the distraction of the elephant herd, Liu Ya stumbled and ran under our tree. Chad quickly slipped down the tree and held Liu Ya to help her climb up the tree.The hound Syke also slipped down the tree, barking wildly to frighten off the attacking wild elephants.While reaching out to pull Liu Ya, I shot at the wild elephant with a gun.Outnumbered and outnumbered, the valiant Seke was soon slain at the feet of an elephant's hooves.The moment everyone pulled Liu Ya up the tree, a wild elephant rolled up Chad with its long trunk and threw it far into the jungle more than ten meters away. After Chad uttered a miserable scream, there was no sound ... The struggle on the other side of the stream also ceased, the crocodile carcass surfaced, and the lost elephant was rescued.

I suddenly felt a little sad. Elephants can sacrifice their lives to rescue their companions in critical moments. Why do humans sometimes push their companions to desperation for their own benefit?As night fell, I knew that elephants have very poor eyesight, and at night they do little else but sleep.This is our chance to escape.At ten o'clock in the evening, they finally left.I greeted Martin and Esmond, signaling that the threat had been lifted, and then Liu Ya and I climbed down from the tree.However, before we had a firm foothold, Martin and Esmond, who fell down the tree first, pointed their guns at me and asked me to hand over the geographical coordinate data of the elephant cemetery.I realized that he and Esmond were the real insiders of the expedition, so I lied to him that it was torn up.Martin immediately said viciously, then go to God.Just when he was about to pull the trigger, a black figure rushed over from behind, picked up a stick and knocked out the gun in Martin's hand, and Liu Ya and I took the opportunity to rush over and subdue Esmond.Only then did we see that the black shadow turned out to be Chad covered in scars. It turned out that after he was thrown by the wild elephant, he just fell unconscious and did not die... Later, I destroyed those chad who had spent thousands of years to save him. The geographical coordinate data of the elephant cemetery, which was obtained through hard work, did not draw a road map for Liu Ya.