It was a relatively sunny day back at Leo's place, as he and Hero, his cute little mongrel puppy were trying to sunbathe... and learn some ASL on the topic of summer and beaches.
- Ok, Hero, this is the Sun, - Leo waved his hand above his head to show the rays shining at him, - And what we are doing is Sunbathing! - He slapped his V-shaped hand onto his other one, - Nice, right?
It would be even nicer for him to have noticed us already...
- Oh, hey, everyone! My name is Leo, - the boy waved, - and I am a Junior Ranger. And this is my puppy, Hero, - he patted his dog's back. - We are practicing Sign Language that the Deaf use to show different things around them... that's just because we're bored and have got nothing better to do for now... - he sighed, when suddenly, he heard Hero barking about a new acquaintance.
- Ranger Rocky!
Indeed, it was their older comrade, riding up in his truck with a cage on it.
- Hello, Leo! I might have amazing news for you: we have a runaway!
- A runaway?
- Yes, this little lion-cub over here, - Ranger Rocky waved his hand at the cage at the back of his truck, - He was noticed near the local village, seemingly taken away by poachers. Luckily, I managed to take him away, before they noticed me.
- But that's not very nice.
- If you were to see that house, you would have understood their mission, young buddy.
- We will definitely have to return that cub back into the wild, to some protective organization, or even better, its own pride, - Leo decided, - I'll just take a photo of him and send it to my sister Katie, who's also a Junior Ranger...
With all said and done, the boy went upstairs to his clubhouse to see the results of his sister's research.
- So, Katie, how can we return that cub back into the wild and what are the odds of it?
- Leo, the situation with lions interacting with humans is very difficult. You see, lion hunting has occurred since ancient times and was often a royal pastime; intended to demonstrate the power of the king over nature. The earliest surviving record of lion hunting is an ancient Egyptian inscription dated approximately at 1380 BC that mentions one of the pharaohs, Amenhotep the Third, killing 102 lions "with his own arrows" during the first ten years of his rule.
- Whoa, that's one harsh ruler....
- Unfortunately, it isn't the only example. The Assyrians would release captive lions in a reserved space for the king to hunt; this event would be watched by spectators as the king and his men, on horseback or chariots, killed the lions with arrows and spears. Lions were also hunted during the Mughal Empire, where Emperor Jahangir is said to have excelled at it. Moreover, in Ancient Rome, lions were kept by emperors for hunts as well as gladiator fights and executions.
- But the modern times are not that bad, are they?
- Well, the Maasai people, who live in Kenya, as long as I can remember, have traditionally viewed the killing of lions as a rite of passage. Historically, lions were hunted by individuals, however, due to reduced lion populations, elders discourage solo lion hunts. During the European Colonization of Africa in the 19th century, the hunting of lions was encouraged because they were considered as vermin and lion hides fetched one pound each.
- Geez, what kind of villains they had been...
- I think, now the situation is getting better. Trophy hunting of lions in recent years has been met with controversy; notably with the killing of Cecil the lion in mid-2015.
Leo thought about the situation for a moment...
- We have to be really careful to drive the cub to its pride safely without any predators or poachers on our way. Come on, Katie, let's go!
As the kids were loading up their things to Ranger Rocky's truck, they noticed a familiar girl coming from the distance.
- Hello, Abby! - Leo waved to his friend as he put his backpack under his seat.
- Helo, - Abby Sorrelbrook glanced at the truck, - what are you doing, guys? This looks fascinating!
- Hello there, miss Sorrelbrook, - Ranger Rocky greeted her, - glad to see a new Ranger in town, eh? From Ramon's group are ya?
- I am from their division, I am! - Abby noticed a cage on board of the truck, - Who are you carrying in here?
- It's a lion-cub, saved from poachers just yesterday, - Ranger Rocky answered, - We're going to bring him back to his pride, are you coming?
- Aye, of course I am!
- So, what's your mission for today, Abby? - Leo asked, while they were driving through the savannah on the truck.
- We have to know, whether crocodiles do the "barrel roll" or not. - the girl repeated her task in Welsh. - And I think our location is a great place to see that roll in motion!
- What's a "barrel roll"? - it turned out that Ranger Rocky had never heard of such a term.
- When crocodiles fight with each other or for their prey, they tend to roll on the ground repeatedly, crushing their prey or rival in the process. Their strong tails act as a sort of balance not to let the rollers crush themselves.
- That's awesome! - Leo exclaimed, clearly awed by the description. But one thought made him confused: "But how are we gonna see the crocodiles on the way to the pride?"
- We could always switch ways and drive across the river, right? - Katie asked, unsure about the directions.
- Sure thing, Junior Rangers! - Ranger Rocky picked up speed, - To the river, then!
There was one unfortunate circumstance waiting for them by the river, though. They noticed a pair of crocodiles fighting over, as it seemed, a killed gazelle.
- There they are... fighting over food... how classic! - Abby mused, watching the animals as they faced each other off, when the aforementioned barrel roll happened. The girl didn't even manage to take her photo in time, as the truck rode away noisily, dodging the crocs and saving the cub in the cage from becoming an additional snack.
- Whoa! Did ya see them move?! - Leo shouted, amazed by the experience.
- Never hurts to get some adrenalin, - Katie replied cheerfully. - I am so making a dance out of this!
It was yet to be seen as the truck rode up to the nearest lion pride and the cub was identified as theirs. But there was something off about that...
- Where's Ranger Ramon? - Abby asked cautiously.
- Called him over to settle the dispute with the poachers, - Ranger Rocky answered, and it seemed like immediately after that he got a positive message on his phone on the fly, - It was a success! Great! Thank you, Ramon!
- But I wanted to show the dance I made as a report on the mission... - the Welsh girl sighed, sad that her duty would not be fulfilled.
- Don't worry, Abby, we can act it out together! - Leo volunteered.
And so, the dance began. Leo and Abby, as two rivalling crocodiles, stepped in together, glaring at Katie, who played the prey, half-alive. Then the fighting began: with all their stage magic, the kids acted out the mad fight between the two crocodiles, twisting, turning, stage hitting each other (no real damage taken by neither), and then came the culminative barrel roll... which ended a little comically with the "prey" standing above its "predators".
- And... cut! - Rocky finished filming the dance on Abby's phone (which he borrowed from her before the shoot), - Great work, Junior Rangers!
- We did it! - exclaimed Leo. - We found a lion-cub its home in the pride...
- ... while also having witnessed a crocodile "barrel roll"! Rawr! - Katie couldn't resist the urge to play as a croc one last time.
With all the praises given, the kids rode home in Ranger Rocky's truck, chatting about their "big and rolling" adventure and thinking of what was more to come...
Vocabulary:
Helo - hello.