Elephant cemetery life and death struggle

In late April 2003, I organized an expedition of eleven people into the Masalobi jungle in southern Kenya. Among them were Germans, British, Americans, and four people from the local Luau tribe who were hired as guides and porters. In addition, we also brought a specially trained hound, Saike. The purpose of our trip was to find the elephant cemetery that has plagued biology for many years. For thousands of years, people have never found the carcass of a dead elephant in the wild, so there are legends that elephants will leave the herd alone before dying and go to a mysterious place to meet their doom. Everyone has been very happy to cooperate along the way, and Chad, Esmand and Martin and I have made careful preparations before this expedition officially starts. The only woman on the expedition, Liu Ya, is a young Ph.D. in biology, who, like me, is also from China.

After more than half a month of searching, we found nothing, and we were exhausted one by one. Just as everyone was about to give up, the careful Liu Ya found a staggering and unhappy old elephant in the wild elephant herd. We tested the old elephant's feces and learned that it had a serious digestive tract disease, which meant that it was likely not to live long. After careful research, we decided to follow the old elephant. After following the herd for more than 20 days, Liu Ya observed the abnormal behavior of the sick old elephant: it began to refuse to eat, howled all night, and its activity was greatly reduced. Early one morning, we found the old elephant walking silently into the depths of the jungle under the quiet gaze of the entire herd, and a long sad howl came from behind it. The whereabouts of the outlier old elephant are mysterious and unpredictable, like an agent with anti-tracking ability, from time to time, changing tricks to get rid of possible stalkers. Fortunately, we have advanced detection equipment and the dedicated hound Saike, so the old elephant will never be missing from our sight for more than two days. In order to facilitate the search again in the future, Liu Ya draws a route map as she walks.

After more than a week of painstaking tracking, we found that the old elephant had stopped near a river valley. It fanned its huge ears and seemed to be listening to the movement around it. Holding our breath, we lay down in the bushes a kilometer away and watched secretly with high-powered binoculars. After enduring nearly four hours of torment, we finally saw the old elephant turn around and walk towards a hidden cave. The cave is above the river, and the entrance of the cave is covered with lush grass and huge stones. The old elephant used his long nose to poke away a few thick trees and stones lying at the entrance of the cave, and then walked in; Then, we saw it sticking out of the hole, rolling up trees and boulders to subtly cover the entrance of the cave...

We all rejoiced at the discovery of the cemetery. That night, I used a satellite locator to determine the geographic coordinates of the elephant cemetery, and then kept the data properly. I also told Liu Ya to keep the hand-drawn route map, so that the secrets would not be scattered. 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 route map was missing! We carefully searched the surroundings of the campsite, but did not find the missing route map. I realized the seriousness of the situation. There was a traitor among the eleven of us, and he or they stole the route map. I felt that the coordinate data hidden in my body was still there, so I quickly ordered Liu Ya to draw a new map from memory. Then, I gathered everyone together and asked the whereabouts of the route map in the most euphemistic tone possible, but everyone said they didn't see it. I called Chad and Martin to supervise, and everyone opened their pockets and backpacks to check, but they still didn't find the route map. I had no choice but to order the team to move out, but at this moment, something unexpected happened.

The four hired Luau tribesmen went on strike, thinking we were extending the expedition and giving them too little compensation. I offered to give them two hundred dollars each when I went back. They still refused. One of them, Bena, pointed to the elephant tomb and said bluntly that he would not need any compensation as long as he got a single ivory. Liu Ya and I immediately objected because trafficking in ivory is a serious crime. But the four locals had our three automatic rifles in their hands at some point.

They forced us to cut down a large, upright tree, and then used the tree as an easy lever to pry it for several hours before prying open a gap that could accommodate one person in and out of the hole, and a rancid smell immediately floated out. Just as everyone hesitated to enter, there was a sudden commotion inside the hole. The dying old elephant staggered out, but was then knocked down by the violent flames of the semi-automatic rifle. Before dying, it let out several long and sad howls.

Now that the unavoidable fact has been created, I have no choice but to carry the camera into the cave to shoot to obtain precious materials. It was as I expected, full of white elephant bones and ivory, and there were several undecomposed elephant carcasses exuding a stench. Bernard and the locals each picked up a pair of ivory, and then exited the cave contentedly. He even returned the gun to me while saying with a smile: "Zhao, this is a happy cooperation! In order to ensure the safety of my companions and I, we are now splitting up and walking out of the jungle. I will keep the other two guns first, and I will return them to you later." I stared at him angrily and said, "Now, you should give me back that road map!" Bernard denied stealing the road map, saying that he only needed a pair of ivory. After speaking, the four of them carried heavy ivory and disappeared into the depths of the dense jungle. The remaining seven of us were re-covering the hole when we heard a rapid sound of gunfire from the jungle. It didn't take long for the four of them to run back, panting and panicking. As soon as Bernard saw us, he shouted: "Run, the elephants are here!" Although I didn't see the herd of elephants immediately, I had heard the characteristic "click" sound of elephants trampling the jungle. Judging from the footsteps, the number of elephants was definitely quite large. It suddenly occurred to me that the old elephant, who kept making a long and mournful howl before dying, must be summoning its companions to take revenge. Realizing the danger of the situation, I ordered everyone to evacuate quickly, and if it was too late, climb up the tall trees.

Under attack, Chad and I dragged the hound Saike up a tree four feet in diameter; the Luau tribesmen were also better at climbing, and they quickly squatted on a smaller tree; Liu Ya was weak and couldn't get up the tree, so she had to immerse her entire body in a nearby creek; Martin and Esmond and other four people climbed another big tree. After a while, about thirty wild elephants appeared in my field of vision and saw the sacred cemetery being violated. They became so violent that they kept hitting the big tree where we were hiding with their bulky bodies.

Bernard and the others picked up their guns and fired at the herd of elephants, and I stopped them loudly, because elephants are not only precious wild animals, but provoking them too much will only arouse the other party's stronger desire for revenge. But Bernard turned a deaf ear, and they continued to slaughter frantically, and four or five wild elephants fell under the tree one after another. The wild elephants were enraged, and they began to concentrate their strength on the big tree, and soon the big tree fell with a bang, and the four Luau tribesmen were trampled into a pot of meat by the wild elephants in the blink of an eye. The wild elephants began to attack the big tree where we and Esmand and the others were hiding. Soon, cracks began to appear in the branch they were clinging to, and two people had to be transferred to another, thinner branch, but none of the four wanted to go. During the dispute, Martin and Esmand suddenly pushed the other two expedition members down the tree, and the poor two became sacrifices to wild elephants again. I reprimanded angrily, but they retorted plausibly, without this, no one would survive! At this time, Liu Ya, who was hiding in the stream, suddenly cried out in horror, and ran desperately towards the shore. It turned out that a ferocious crocodile attacked her. The wild elephant began to shift its target and pounced on Liu Ya. But perhaps because of its weight, a wild elephant was trapped in the swamp at the bottom of the stream and could not extricate itself. The ferocious crocodile immediately swam over, ready to kill.

At this time, dozens of wild elephants rushed over at the same time, some fighting crocodiles, some struggling to drag their fallen companions ashore with their long noses, and some desperately pushing their fallen companions out of the swamp with their bodies. Taking advantage of the distraction of the herd, Liu Ya stumbled under our tree, and Chad quickly slipped down the tree and supported Liu Ya to help her climb up the tree. The hound Saike also slipped down the tree, barking to scare off the attacking wild elephants. As I stretched out my hand to pull Liu Ya, I shot at the wild elephants with a gun. The heroic Sike was outnumbered and soon died under the elephant's hooves. At the moment when everyone pulled Liu Ya up the tree, a wild elephant rolled up Chad with its long nose and threw it into the jungle more than ten meters away. After hearing Chad let out a shrill scream, there was no sound... The fighting on the other side of the stream also stopped, the crocodile corpse surfaced, and the stray wild elephant was rescued.

I suddenly felt a little sad. Elephants can sacrifice themselves to save their companions in times of crisis. Why do humans sometimes push their companions to desperation for their own benefit? As night fell, I knew that elephants had very weak eyesight, and at night they did little but sleep. This was our chance to escape. At around ten o'clock in the evening, they finally left. I greeted Martin and Esmand, signaling that the threat had been lifted, and Liu Ya and I climbed down from the tree. However, before we could get a foothold, Martin and Esmand, who were going down the tree first, pointed their guns at me and asked me to hand over the geographic coordinates of the elephant cemetery. I realized that he and Esmand were the real mole of the expedition, so I lied to him and told him to tear it up. Martin immediately said viciously, then you go to see God. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a black shadow rushed from behind and took a stick and knocked off the gun in Martin's hand. Liu Ya and I took the opportunity to pounce and subdue Esmand. Only then did we see that the shadow turned out to be Chad with scars all over his body. It turned out that after he was thrown out by the wild elephant, he just fell unconscious and did not die... Later, I destroyed the geographic coordinates of the elephant cemetery that I had worked so hard to get, and Liu Ya did not go to draw a roadmap.