That morning, the flawless sun looked like a fake, and the entire vast space was bathed in glaze-like translucent colors.
As soon as the four-wheel-drive off-road vehicle drove into the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, I was shocked.
This place is really dizzying! Animals, running, walking, lying down, are everywhere, and every horn is full of wild charm.
The experienced guide Kufewa told me that Serengeti National Park is the first national park in Tanzania. It used to be a settlement of Maasai people. In 1920, British explorers hunted here and shot about 50 lions. The number of lions dropped sharply. In 1921, British colonists set up a 3.2 square kilometer "hunting sanctuary" in the surrounding area. In 1929, the "hunting sanctuary" was extended to the entire Serengeti area. In 1951, in order to protect all wild animals, the relevant authorities created the Serengeti National Park with an area of 147.5 million square kilometers.
"So, where did the Maasai people who originally lived here migrated?" I asked.
"Good question!" Kufewa nodded heavily and said, "They all moved to the Ngorongoro highlands to live. Some people pointed out that this was done under the duress and deceit of the colonial authorities, not theirs. Willingness, because the Maasai people have always liked to live on the vast plains and live by grazing.”
Currently, those living in the Serengeti National Park freely include lions, leopards, antelopes, wildebeests, and bighorn antelopes. , Hyena, baboon, impala, African wild dog, giraffe, etc. In addition, there are about 500 species of birds in the park, such as ostrich, secretary bird, South African great bustard, red-crowned crane, African vulture, war eagle, lover parrot, vulture, etc., to name a few.
Kufewa pointed out that lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, and rhinos are the famous "Five African Hegemons", and they have strong awareness and defense capabilities.
I asked curiously: "Why are hippos not on the list?"
He replied: "Looks like giant hippos, with a very weak sense of self-defense-only those hippos who were new mothers, in order to defend the little hippos, Become more alert."
"Among the five tyrants, the leopard is the most ferocious and aggressive." Kufewa said vividly. The speed of 120 miles per hour flew toward the prey, with hundreds of shots. It loves to eat deer. When it catches it, it uses its mouth to jump up the tree and enjoy it slowly.” The
car drove, and Kufewa suddenly became excited and uncontrollable. He shouted:
"Look, lion!"
Not far away, the male and female lions were lying lazily sleeping under the bushes. Their sleeping posture was so peaceful and their expressions were so peaceful, like two big docile cats. A group of lively zebras, unaware that their natural enemies are close at hand, are playing extremely happily, and I can almost hear their mellow laughter. Fortunately, the lion slept well, and this group of zebras survived. In the jungle everywhere in the trap, sometimes it takes a bit of luck to survive!
"The lion is the king of beasts and lives the most free in the jungle." Kufewa said, "They are addicted to the meaty and delicious zebras, and for lions, the easiest prey to kill is the zebra. Zebras often In the early morning or evening, the zebras gather by the river to drink water, and the zebras whose stomach sacs are heavily filled with water tend to be slower. Therefore, if the lion wants to culling them, it is as easy to get what is in the sack. However, if the lion is It takes more effort to capture other larger animals."
In the Serengeti National Park, Kufewa witnessed the brutal battle of four lions besieging and killing buffaloes. The sound of wailing shook the earth, and the blood shot like a fountain, dyeing all the clouds in the sky red. I listened, even the ears were covered with goose bumps, but Kufewa shrugged and said nonchalantly, natural selection, survival of the fittest, battles like this, in the jungle all the time, it’s not worth it All the fuss.
Kufewa, who has been a tour guide in the safari park for 17 years, tells stories about animals.
He said that more than 1.5 million wildebeests and about 250,000 zebras migrate every year. Wildebeests and zebras are at the close of life and death. During the great migration in July and August, they are always seen as a shadow. There are traps in the jungle. Wildebeest and zebra each have their strengths and weaknesses, and they can complement each other by complementing their strengths and weaknesses. Their common natural enemy is the lion. The zebra has good sight and the wildebeest has a strong sense of smell. When the zebra sees the lion from a distance, the wildebeest will run quickly, and the wildebeest will also run wildly with it. On the contrary, the wildebeest flees quickly when the wildebeest smells the lion's breath. Will follow closely. In addition, zebras have good memories, but wildebeests have poor memory. When crossing the river, zebras clearly remember where crocodiles gather and will deliberately avoid them, but wildebeests don’t remember, so they follow zebras for safety. In the worst case, when encountering a lion, the forgetful wildebeest often forgets why they ran halfway through the run. They will stop and browse the surrounding scenery comfortably until they see the zebra still running away. Suddenly awakening that the powerful enemy was still behind, he continued to run for his life in a panic.
Kufewa pointed out that in the river, crocodiles and hippos are good partners. Crocodiles eat meat and hippos are vegetarian. The two have different diets, so there is no reason or need to fight. Their natural enemies are also lions. However, because the crocodile skin is so hard and bones, the lion does not like to eat it, and seldom mess with it. As for the hippopotamus, which weighs between 1500 and 2000 kg, the whole body is rich and soft, which is very delicious. The lion prefers, but the hippo is powerful and the teeth are sharp, so the lion must unite five or six companions to besiege in order to succeed. A lion must eat forty to fifty kilograms of meat at one meal. If a huge hippopotamus can be culled, the whole family can be full and burp together.
I asked Kufewa, what should he do if he meets the beasts in the jungle?
In this regard, the experienced old God Kufewa said in the ground: "If you encounter a lion with a strong temper, you must calmly and boldly look directly into its eyes, and then step back step by step to let it know that you are right. It is not threatening. The water buffalo is used to rampage, so it must lie flat on the ground to make it lose its target. Leopards mostly stay on the tree. What it hates most is the spotlight. When the light flashes, it will Rush down from the tree and launch an offensive. Therefore, as long as it does not violate its taboos, it is basically safe. The hippopotamus has weak eyesight and strong sense of smell. As for elephants, they are not very aggressive, so keep their distance and they will be fine."
Kufewa warned: the most aggressive are those hippos that were new mothers. In order to protect the baby hippos that were born, they will become desperately ferocious and violent. They can bite a person in two with one mouth. You must be careful.
In 1981, Serengeti National Park was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In this park, exciting stories are staged all the time, which is full of wild charm for tourists from all over the world.
Listen, not far away, the roar of a lion came again...
