Chapter 231： ivory

Chapter 231 Ivory

A local guide who is familiar with the Maasai language translated for them: "There are about 150 people in this Maasai village, and 30 young people have joined the anti-poaching activities. Private hunting grounds and national parks have given them jobs. Probably Be back in an hour."

"What animal are they dealing with?" Matthew asked.

The guide asked the leader, and then translated: "He said that two wounded hippos appeared near the village, threatening the safety of his people and cattle, and they could not be driven away, so he needed young warriors to kill the hippos. He also Said that this is the legal power given to them by the government to fight back."

Because the hippopotamus is timid and short-tempered, its probability of hurting people is very high, even higher than that of lions, leopards and other beasts. Lions will stay away from humans, especially the Maasai people, but hippopotamuses think they are the best in the world and invade other people's territory Not to mention, attacking humans.

The Maasai don’t show their power, the hippo really treats them as sick cats.

Everyone chatted under the translation of the guide. The Maasai people in this village are relatively civilized. Judging from the fact that they accept tourists and collect money every time, they have indeed learned the essence of a civilized society. But there are still some very traditional places, such as polygamy.

Polygamy is very common in Africa. How many wives a Maasai can marry depends on how many cows they have in the family. Generally, ten cows can marry one wife. The leader Zama has forty cows, so he has four wives. He also proudly took them to visit the house he built with cow dung and mud. It was very dark and depressing inside. If you want to take a photo, you have to use a flash. It is hard to imagine how tall Maasai people can bear this environment. .

During the chat, the village warrior returns.

The Maasai people gave An Feng the impression that they are all tall. It is said that the average height is 1.9 meters, and their legs are very long. They are not those sissy long-legged Obamas. The dark muscles of the Maasai people show their bravery and agility. Before the hunting ceremony, they "drain strength".

Commonly known as drinking cow blood.

Cows are live cattle, and their blood is warm. They stabbed the cow with their sharp knives, knelt beside the cow and sucked the blood, thinking it was a sacred way to gain strength. The leader Zama suggested that they also drink it, but everyone politely refused. How many bacteria does this stuff have!

More than 20 warriors changed into casual clothes and brought about a hundred "javelins". That is to say, it is made of wood, and the pointed end is a sharp iron piece. This is their most commonly used and traditional weapon. Each of them set out with two javelins. The location where the hippo invaded was just two kilometers away from the village.

To be on the safe side, An Feng and the others drove there.

According to Zama, several hippos have been driven away a few days ago, but two of them have been occupying this place, and they cannot be driven away, leaving them nowhere to fetch water. An Feng and the others are indeed lucky. Not everyone can see the Maasai hunting in this day and age.

The two-kilometer journey was completed quickly.

Zama pointed out to them the pool where the hippos lived. Surrounded by a piece of calf-green grass, a muddy pond disturbed by hippos appeared in front of them. Parking at a close distance, everyone climbed onto the roof of the car, sat on it with binoculars and cameras, and waited for the original scene.

The Marseille Warriors are working on a plan. Hippos are as dangerous creatures as lions, and what is even more terrifying is that they have to face many changes in the water, so it took a few minutes to formulate a plan. The Maasai walked side by side slowly towards the pond, the javelins in their hands glowing coldly.

Both hippopotamuses were floating on the water, basking in the sun leisurely, unaware of the approaching danger. Almost instantly, the first Maasai warrior threw the javelin in his hand. He was very powerful—the javelin was directly inserted into the Hippo's back! Then, like an explosion, the Maasai people surrounded them in an instant, and threw more than a dozen javelins at the floating hippopotamus. Some missed, some hit the hippopotamus' back and were bounced off, and some successfully stuck on it... the hippopotamus Instantly furious and tumbling, the surrounding mud and water splashed like rain. The empty-handed Maasai immediately retreated, followed by someone holding a javelin to make up for it. When the angle was right, he threw the javelin at the hippopotamus again.

The scene is extremely intense and thrilling! The hippopotamus in the mud pool rolled, roared, and opened its terrifying **** mouth. The bold Masai people threw javelins at close range, almost one or two meters apart. Any mistake they would turn into a hippopotamus. minced meat.

They backed up after throwing their javelins. They were very dexterous. No matter how the hippo rolled over or opened its mouth to bite, it was useless. The number of javelins on its body exceeded ten. Except for the initial burst, the bleeding and physical exertion gradually made it unable to hold on. Two more javelins were shot at him, and the hippo sank.

But the hippopotamus on the other side was obviously very violent. Facing the intensive javelin attack, it got up from the muddy pond and rushed towards the crowd. Everyone retreated in unison, holding the javelin high and roaring. It was not inferior to the hippopotamus at all. After the hippo landed, its ability to move slowed down, and what gave people pressure was its mouth that was big enough to swallow a person, and the few thick teeth.

The Masai people cooperated tacitly, retreated empty-handed, and stepped forward with javelins, all of which were thrust into the hippopotamus at close range. There were more javelins stabbing at it, and some bold Maasai people grabbed the javelins on it and poked it vigorously, and then a group of people surrounded it and stabbed it on the head. After a few hits, the hippopotamus died.

Then the Maasai cheered, sang and danced around their prey. After four or five minutes, the two beasts, which were incomparable to ordinary people, died under the intensive javelin attack. To participate in the Olympics, the javelin throw must be very strong.

Also running, Maasai people have long legs, flexible and fast.

Among the cheers and dancing, the hunting ended.

The Maasai's hunting methods are very bloody, which has brought a lot of pressure from public opinion, but An Feng feels that this is Africa, and their way of survival for hundreds of years, if Africans also stand on the moral high ground and attack Westerners' diet Ways, like the French take foie gras, would be interesting too.

The tribal leader also invited them to stay and share the food, but since the cow blood in front of them was said to be a sacred power, it is estimated that the food is not much better, so they refused. While it was still early, I bid farewell to this primitive and fierce village and returned to a civilized society.

…

The next morning, the local government notified Bazel of a news.

The group of poachers was taken by a nest.

An Feng heard what the black officials said. These guys are very fierce, armed poachers, and there are a lot of them. Last time An Feng sniped only a part of them. They often operate in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, not only for poaching, but also for poaching. Also killed several soldiers who found them.

After a raid, they destroyed the poachers' lair and confiscated more than 700 ivory tusks, with a total weight of more than 2.5 tons. In terms of black market value, it was more than two million US dollars, but this was only the "factory price" out of Africa. Poachers sell an ivory weighing 30 to 40 kilograms, usually for 500 to 2,000 U.S. dollars, and then leave Africa by smuggling and sell it to Asia—Asia is the region with the largest demand for ivory—and its value may be tens or hundreds of times After all, the orientals cannot resist these white and delicate temptations.

Orientals love ivory, just as Westerners cannot resist the charm of diamonds, and countless **** deaths have occurred for profit. For diamonds, Africa suffered heavy casualties in the last century. Lion Rock (Sierra Leone)'s "keep long sleeves and keep short sleeves" is famous all over the world along with blood diamonds; and for ivory, it also makes the land of Africa suffer.

The black officials said a lot. They specially invited the foreign tourists who discovered the poachers and captured them—that is, An Feng and the others to visit the government’s exhibition activities. They will show the world the ivory obtained by these poachers from slaughtering elephants. Call for more people to join the anti-poaching action.

Anyway, the distance is not too far, and Bazel also has friendship with senior officials of the local government, so he participated in this exhibition. In the Serengeti National Park, government soldiers gathered the confiscated ivory in a small village, with journalists and news media present, as well as officials from the country.

There were more security guards with guns behind, and the president of Tanzania also appeared. Everyone looked at the ivory all over the place. Because it was stained with blood and mud, it could no longer be seen that it was originally white and flawless, but after seeing so many The numbers are still outrageous.

The activity lasted for a long time, An Feng curiously asked Bazel next to him: "How did the government deal with this batch of ivory?"

"Under normal circumstances, after registration, they are sold collectively. It is useless to store these things. The sale can be exchanged for some money, which can be used in the protection of wild animals." Bazel said, glanced at An Feng, "Bruce , are you also interested in these ivory?"

An Feng nodded, anyway, anyone who sells will sell, and a lot of the money earned is used in anti-poaching work, which can be regarded as the contribution of these dead elephants to their compatriots.

Bazel said: "That's no problem. I also want to collect one or two large ivory. We will talk to the president later and discuss it with him."

Bazel is very important. After the special interview report, the president and his party returned to the hotel in the Serengeti to stay, and they also followed up to arrange a private meeting. President Hassan has no airs, is approachable, and especially thanked them for their contributions.

Hassan said: "Without your help, we would not have tracked down this group of poachers, thank you, Mr. Sinclair, Mr. An."

Both Sinclairs and an Andy are smiling.

They talked about some ways to deal with ivory. Bazel promised to buy it at the market price, and will pay some extra money to donate to the anti-poaching foundation, so that the government can invest more in anti-poaching activities in Africa and save ivory. Endangered wild elephants.

(end of this chapter)