National Park

Chapter 3

As they neared the information centre, Dev and Raja could see the ranger jumping into his truck. Although it was a distance away, they could see the annoyance on his face. Not far from the truck was Jane Coetzee helping her cameraman pack away their equipment.

"Come on, boy! Let's see if we can chat to the reporter! This is quite disturbing! Rhino poaching has become a serious concern," said Dev to Raja as they rushed up to Jane.

"Hi there. How are you? We arrived at the park an hour ago and happened to watch your interview with the ranger. Do you think the rhino will just turn up or do you really think it's the work of poachers?" Dev enquired.

Raja watched Jane as she listened to Dev. She didn't seem all that interested in discussion, but her face lit up at Dev's mention of poachers.

"I think that this park is in some serious danger. I'm thinking that this could possibly be the start of something worse. We need to start taking these things more seriously and perhaps screen all visitors. I think the park should be closed off to the public, as it endangers the lives of the animals. This rhino was innocent and this was uncalled for! How would you like it if one morning you wake up and your dog has disappeared?" Jane narrowed her eyes and looked straight at Raja.

Dev's mouth dropped open. This lady had some seriously loose screws.

"Well, it was great meeting you; best of luck with the reporting and stuff. Hope the rhino turns up soon. Take care," he said as he walked quickly away from Jane. "Come, Raja, let's go have a look at the map with all the sightings for the day."

At the entrance of the information centre was a large magnetic map of the park with sets of six different-coloured magnets representing different animals:

Black – Rhinos

Blue – Elephants

Red – Lions

Green – Leopard

Yellow – Buffalo

Orange – Wild Dogs

The magnets were placed on various parts of the map.

"This is a representation of the entire park," Dev explained to Raja. "As visitors like ourselves pass through the different camps, we update the map with the various sightings that might have been seen on the way. Look, there have been quite a few sightings around this area; it's called Umzantsi, as you can see." Dev stepped closer to the map and inspected it with interest. "Wow! All of the Big Five have been spotted not far from this camp. Maybe about five kilometres outside! It's a bit odd that they all stayed that distance out and there have been no spottings closer to the camp. Oh well, maybe they were here earlier and are just moving away now. We'd better get moving if we want to get bookings for tonight and make it out for a short drive too. We might just be lucky enough to spot a few lions!"

Dev walked towards the counter, inspecting the various boards on display.

Why must there be lions, thought Raja miserably. He attempted to calm himself by reassuring himself that he would be in the car the whole time and, therefore, the lions wouldn't be able to reach him. But tomorrow was his birthday and that would be the most memorable day of his life.

Breathing in slowly, Raja came to the conclusion that his fears were controlling him and he needed to relax and take his attention away from his nightmares. Accept the current moment; there is no value in stressing since nothing has happened... yet.

He looked back up at the map and distracted himself by marvelling at the genius of it. If it wasn't for his fear of lions, this map would definitely be exciting. The Big Five had all been spotted about five kilometres outside of the Umzantsi region. There were also sightings of wild dogs, which interested Raja. What made them wild? Had they contracted rabies and completely lost their minds? Raja's excitement was starting to build. Would be able to speak to them as he did with the neighbourhood animals? This was an interesting concept: he could understand and speak with other dogs, cats, rats, squirrels and even birds, but none of the neighbourhood animals could speak to humans. The animals could understand their language, but, when they attempted to speak to the humans, the humans appeared to not understand a word the animals were saying! Raja thought that humans had become so desensitised with the natural world that they had lost their communication with Mother Nature and that was why they loved coming to parks and other natural habitats, so as to feel once again the comfort of a long-forgotten connection.