Li Du used to watch TV when he was very young. The central channel had a flagship
program called The Animal World.
The program used to accompany much of post-80s’ and post-90s’ childhood and
adolescence, and produced a popular joke to relating to the post-90s. The humor is in
the opening words: spring is coming, everything recovers, the prairie is approaching the
mating season of the animals.
The program often focused on Africa as the host country. On TV, it seemed that Africa
was full of animals.
It did not look this way now, however, probably because it was the winter season. They
drove through the grassland for an hour, far away from the tribe, and still did not see
any wild animals.
As they drove, they did meet some rabbits and birds, but the lion hunter scorned
hunting small animals. He wanted to take Li Du to hunt lions and leopards and so on.
After driving for an hour, Lu Guan could not stand it anymore. “How can it be that we
didn’t come across any big beast yet? Isn’t this unusual?”
The lion hunter said, “No, it’s normal. We haven’t entered the hunting grounds yet.”
There were hunting grounds throughout South Africa, which were actually called game
reserves. This was where rich people could hunt wild animals.
Outside the protected areas, hunters had killed most of the wild animals. After all, South
Africa had a large population, and people drew upon the resources of the wild to
survive.
In the morning, the sun was hanging in the sky, scorching the earth.
Li Du did not feel the breath of winter at all as the sun shone down upon him. Soon his
skin felt very hot and painful.
Because of the season, he didn’t put on sunscreen before going out.
After a few more minutes of driving north, a small oasis appeared, which was different
from the places they have seen on the way. There were many green weeds and shrubs
growing there, surrounding the source of a river.
Around the little oasis, there were buildings and soldiers on duty walked around with
guns on their backs.
The lion hunter took off his sunglasses and said, “OK, we are going to enter the hunting
area. I will buy a ticket. Remember, keep a low profile here. Don’t get into fights with
anyone!”
Li Du would have known that even without a warning from the lion hunter. There were
many people there waiting to enter the hunting area, and they had guns. It would be a
gunfight if there were any conflict
There were wild animals living throughout the oasis, especially around the river. There
was even a pride of lions.
Ah Meow, Ah Ow and the others became frightened when they saw the lion pride. The
difference in size made them understand the difference in fighting ability between the
two sides. In addition, it was written their genes to fear of facing large beasts, which
could not be reasoned away. However, Ali was an exception. It has been following
Brother Wolf to learn boxing, and entered the growth period. It was now getting bigger
day by day and was full of confidence in its own fighting ability. It was not afraid of
anything.
Ah Ow, Ah Meow and Crispy Noodles leaned over the window to watch the lions, while
Ali jumped down and followed Li Du and the others to the front.
A male lion was resting next to the river with its tail swaying from side to side, and three
or four small cubs were playing with its tail, catching and biting it time after time.
One of the lion cubs must have played too roughly, and its bite might have hurt the adult
lion. The big male hit it with its paw, and the little lion rolled away, whining in pain.
Li Du asked curiously, “Isn’t it dangerous that the lions are so close to people?”
Lilikas could understand English but did not speak it fluently. “Domesticated, well,
they’re fed, well, they don’t attack.”
Listening to his halting explanation, Li Du thought he understood what was going on.
The wild animals near the oasis must have been screened and set aside by the reserve.
They would be fed until they were full. As long as no one bothered them, they would not
bother people.
Leaving them behind was a publicity stunt for the reserve. After all, it was a hunting
ground for the rich, and these beasts were for the rich to see.
The river was home to the famous African hippopotamus. The giant animals would
occasionally climb out of the river and frighten the young lions into running.
The hippopotamus was a more terrible beast than lions if disturbed, but most of the time
they were relatively gentle. Li Du knew this, so he did not mind being close to the
hippopotamus.
He was looking around when Sophie suddenly exclaimed, “God, Ali, come back!”
Li Du looked and was shocked to see that Ali had run over and was now near to the
hippopotamus.
Ali jumped up and looked curiously at the hippo.
This was probably the first time for the hippopotamus to encounter a kangaroo. It
seemed very curious as well as it looked down at Ali, and did not show a defensive
posture.
Ali was a troublemaker. One would not know what was on its mind. Maybe because the
hippopotamus looked at it, it suddenly got angry. It jumped to the side of the
hippopotamus and gave it a punch.
This was a lesson learned from boxing training: do not attack from the front but from the
side.
Upon seeing this, the tourists got excited, and someone laughed, “Haha, brave
kangaroo!”
Others wondered, “How can there be kangaroos in Africa?”
“The little fellow is brave, well done,” cheered another tourist.
The hippo took the blow but did not seem angered. It looked back at Ali and walked
slowly, its legs as big as pillars.
To the hippo, Ali’s little fist was no more than the touch of grass brushing against its
side., Even the touch of the oasis caretaker washing the hippos’ skin was more powerful
than the little kangaroo’s punch.
However, Li Du was startled and said angrily, “Ali, come back at once!”
If Ali angered the hippopotamus, the consequences could be fatal. The hippopotamus
could gain speed very quickly, and its weight was a few tons. It could finish Ali off in a
moment.
Ali was rebellious. It didn’t come back but kept showing off in an ostentatious manner.
When the hippopotamus looked back at it, Ali was actually startled. After all, the
hippo had a huge head and big eyes, each eye almost the size of Ali’s head.
Kangaroos could not retreat. They could only move forward, because of their body
structure.
When the hippo turned back, Ali moved neither forward nor back. He was stunned.
When it saw that the hippopotamus did not attack, it became bold and ruthless. It
chased the hippopotamus and gave it a punch on the hip. Ali’s internal monolog was,
How dare you scare me. Taste my fist!
Hippos had thick skin on their hips. Their only weakness was their rear. Hyenas would
attack them from the rear position.
Usually, the hippos would use their tail to protect their rear. Ali could not touch that body
part, so the hippopotamus did not care about its attack, and continued walking forward
leisurely.
Ali jumped after the hippo and kept beating it like a drum.
Li Du was mad with anger at this reckless act, but he did not dare to come forward,
afraid that he would make the hippopotamus angry. The hippopotamus might not care
about a kangaroo, because it felt no threat, but they would pay more attention to a
human.
There were signs all over the oasis that said, No unauthorized access to any wild
animals!
