Chapter 820: Bird and Snake Fight
Of course it is impossible for Bifang to really eat flies.
With his current abilities, there is no need for him to survive in such a "miserable" way except for a special demonstration.
After seeing Lake Umai and checking in, I felt that I had completed a part of my journey. I found some food among the nearby green plants and made some tools. Then I continued on my journey. I successfully entered Chad from Libya and saw several volcanoes.
Vaanams is a dead volcano. Looking down at the Sahara Desert from high above, this dead volcano looks like a black scar on the Sahara Desert.
Below the volcano, there are towering rocks everywhere. Entering is like entering half of a maze. Occasionally, you can see poisonous snakes coiled on the top of the rocks, blending in with the brown rocks, hissing at the humans who enter.
And another thing that can be seen with the naked eye is that there are many more birds flying overhead.
Below the rock wall, Alpha was tied to the ground, and right above it, Bifang was clinging firmly to the rock wall. He grabbed the edge with both hands, exerted force suddenly, turned over to a platform, and saw a bird's nest in a depression.
Bifang smiled and reached out to put the bird eggs into his arms.
Along the way, he had found no less than three bird nests on these rocks, which were rich in nutrition.
"When we arrived in Chad, life was not as tight as before. It can be said that this place is a grassland. Wherever you look, there are trees, although they are sparse."
Carefully returning along the original route, Bifang did not get on the camel immediately, but cooked the eggs on the spot. Otherwise, they would easily be damaged if kept in the bag, which would be a waste of time and effort.
After preparing some simple dry food, Bifang untied Alpha's rope and continued on his journey.
“Nature has abundant resources, and human beings depend on them for survival. But if human beings only know how to take from nature without knowing how to protect it, they will surely suffer the consequences.”
"As the Han Dynasty's Huainanzi says: The law of the ancient kings was not to drain the lake to fish, nor to burn the forest to hunt."
"The consequences of over-exploitation of natural resources are not uncommon throughout history and abroad."
Bifang held Alpha's reins and walked slowly between the canyons.
"Chad is a typical desert landlocked country, with more than half of its territory belonging to the Sahara Desert or semi-desert. Although it is a desert country, Chad does not have rich oil resources like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. Chad is an agricultural and pastoral country with a very backward economy and people living in poverty. It is not only one of the least developed countries in the world, but also rated as the poorest country in Africa by the United Nations."
[I always feel that Africa is very poor]
[Is it possible that this is not a feeling ( dog head)]
[I have heard that several of the poorest ones are gathered together]
"Due to the limitations of the natural environment, the economic development of the entire African continent is relatively slow, and most countries are very poor, and the Republic of Chad is in the worst position. Chad is not without natural resources. In recent years, gold, diamonds, iron ore and other resources have been discovered within the borders of the Republic of Chad. However, due to the backward overall industrial technology level and poor economic conditions in Chad, large-scale mining is not possible. This has created a vicious cycle: there is no money to mine resources, and there is even less money if there is no mining. Chad's poverty is also reflected in the use of electricity. Chad's national electricity coverage is only 2%. Electricity has become a luxury for ordinary residents. They all use the primitive method of burning wood or animal dung for lighting."
“And as I said not long ago, Chad, known as the Death Heart of the Desert, has extremely scarce water resources.”
“The country has one and only one water source: Lake Chad.”
"Originally, Lake Chad was jointly owned by Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, but now only Cameroon and Chad own the lake."
"This is not a good thing for Chad, because the reason for this situation is not that it has become stronger and annexed more land, but that Lake Chad is disappearing."
Lake Chad is very famous in Africa. It is not only the second largest wetland in Africa, but also one of the main inflow points of the Nile River.
However, the area of Lake Chad has shrunk from 330,000 square kilometers more than 7,000 years ago to 2,500 square kilometers today. Compared with Qinghai Lake, Lake Chad is only half the size of the latter.
And this situation has not stopped. Lake Chad is still shrinking as if it is being swallowed by the desert.
This situation is undoubtedly very bad and fatal for the impoverished Republic of Chad.
"There are many reasons why Lake Chad dried up so quickly."
“The first reason must be that Lake Chad is close to the Sahara Desert, which results in excessive natural evaporation.”
The Sahara is the largest desert in the world and is still expanding.
Because Lake Chad is close to the Sahara Desert and has a dry and hot climate, the lake water is constantly evaporating, while the water flowing into the lake is decreasing. The amount of water in and out is not proportional, so the area of Lake Chad is getting smaller and smaller.
Although Lake Chad may not look impressive now, 5,400 years ago, its area may have been larger than that of the Caspian Sea, the world's largest lake today.
Because the time is too long, people cannot calculate the specific area of Lake Chad during its heyday, but what is certain is that it was definitely not less than 300,000 square kilometers, and it may even reach or even exceed 400,000 square kilometers.
Such a huge lake is naturally closely related to the world's longest river, which is also in Africa.
The longest river in the world is the Nile River in Africa, and Lake Chad is one of the sources of the Nile River.
However, due to changes in topography, the depth of Lake Chad has become shallower. And due to long-term siltation, the outlet of Lake Chad has been gradually blocked, and over time, the connection with the Nile River has been cut off.
After being isolated, Lake Chad has apparently become a true inland lake.
Fortunately, due to the filtering effect of underground seepage, Lake Chad, as a small inland lake, is still a lake full of fresh water today.
It won't become a saltwater lake filled with flies like its other cousins.
[So how much has it shrunk? ]
[How big is the area now? ]
"In the 1960s and 1970s, scientists conducted a measurement and found that the area of Lake Chad was about 20,000 square kilometers at that time."
"This is an astonishing figure. Over the past 5,000 years, Lake Chad has slowly shrunk from the world's largest lake of 300,000 to 400,000 square kilometers to a small lake of only 20,000 square kilometers."
"But what's even more surprising is that the shrinking of Lake Chad has not changed, and it is continuing at an accelerated rate. Today, Lake Chad is only 1,500 square kilometers."
"That's right. In the past 5,000 years, Lake Chad has shrunk by 90%. In the past 60 years, Lake Chad has shrunk by another 90%."
[Fuck, this is a bit outrageous]
[Awesome, it will be gone in ten years or so, right? ]
"If the first reason is an objective factor that cannot be prevented by human power, then the second reason must be attributed to human beings themselves."
"Like many poor countries, Chad has not controlled its birth rate, and its population has increased dramatically in recent years. Basic food and clothing needs to be addressed."
"The agricultural and animal husbandry industries in Chad are almost non-existent, so people are turning their attention to Lake Chad."
"Lake Chad has never suffered any industrial pollution, its water quality is excellent, and its fish resources are abundant. However, even the most abundant resources cannot withstand uncontrolled exploitation, and as a result, the resources of Lake Chad are becoming increasingly scarce, and the environment is being severely damaged."
Although Lake Chad has suffered little industrial pollution, human activities have also caused great damage to the environment.
Lake Chad, originally the second largest wetland in Africa, has lush vegetation and a high vegetation coverage rate. However, due to human deforestation, the water storage capacity of Lake Chad has been destroyed to a certain extent.
In addition, domestic sewage discharged into the lake by people living near the lake further saturates Lake Chad's ability to purify the environment.
All these factors have caused this largest freshwater lake to become smaller and smaller, and perhaps it will completely disappear in a few decades.
Bifang was still very grateful that he could still see this last oasis. If it were in the next century, that might not be the case.
As Bifang chatted with the audience, the scene in front of him gradually became brighter.
"It's time to go out."
"Even though there is light in a canyon like this, it's still very easy to get lost because you can't see the sun directly."
Not all canyons are like the Great Rift Valley. The one where Bifang is located is like a handful of stones scattered on the ground, densely packed with only gaps left between the stones.
It is also a relatively rare type.
The light before my eyes became brighter and brighter. Just when I was about to walk out of the canyon, Bifang suddenly appeared.
He pulled the reins.
It wasn't because I saw something, but because I heard something unusual.
The drone’s recording capabilities were so powerful that the audience heard it and held their breath.
【What sound? 】
[Sounds like a bird?]
[Quack, quack, a duck?]
[Unclear]
Bifang thought for a moment and said suspiciously, "It might be an ostrich. Let's be careful when approaching it."
ostrich?
[Do ostriches live in deserts? ]
【Diablo】
[I used to think that ostriches could not live in the Sahara Desert because they needed water to survive. But later I learned that ostriches can run as fast as gazelles in the Sahara Desert and can get water in the deepest part of the sand.]
What is the relationship between running fast and getting water?
[Stupid, it means the range of activities is large]
[If the range of activities is expanded, won’t you be able to find water sources?]
Bifang got off Alpha, stuck to the rock wall, and moved towards the source of the sound little by little.
The scene before him surprised him.
The slender neck, black feathers, and most importantly, the huge body!
But encountering an ostrich is not something surprising, as there are many wild ostriches in Africa. But the key is that there is another creature in front of the ostrich.
cobra!
"The ostrich wants to eat the cobra."
Bifang, hiding in the dark, realized at a glance that this was a hunt.
Although he has traveled a lot over the years, it is rare for him to observe animals hunting at close range, especially when the opponent is the famous Egyptian cobra!
If you were to ask what snake is the most famous in Africa, it would definitely be the cobra!
Although the horned viper has a strange shape and is powerful and domineering, it is still not as powerful as this representative desert creature that can be carved on the pharaoh's scepter.
Moreover, the horned viper that Bifang encountered was considered large among its peers, nearly seventy centimeters long, but compared with the cobra in front of it, it was completely dwarfed.
Even without careful measurement, Bifang could estimate that its size was at least over 1.5 meters!
One and a half meters is already a pretty scary body shape, with a waist that is even as thick as an adult's wrist. Ordinary people may not even be able to hold it!
"The cobra symbol on the headdress and crown of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs represents the cobra goddess Wadjet."
"In ancient Egyptian legends, the Cobra Goddess was believed to be a god with boundless power and omnipotence. The Pharaoh could be protected by the Cobra Goddess by wearing a headdress and crown with the Cobra Goddess's logo, which could help the Pharaoh resist the attacks of enemies. Therefore, the Cobra Goddess was the patron saint of the ancient Egyptian royal family."
"It is said that Cleopatra was bitten to death by it."
"In ancient Egyptian mythology, if you die from a venomous snake bite, you will be able to go to heaven forever. Cleopatra used prisoners to experiment with the power of various venomous snake venoms. The Egyptian cobra is a neurotoxin, so the pain is relatively small. When the army was defeated and she was captured, she ended her life in her residence with an Egyptian cobra she raised."
"Of course, it is not clear whether it is true that Cleopatra died from snake venom."
"Some historians believe Cleopatra used a cocktail of deadly herbs, possibly ginseng, gypsophila and the opium poppy."
"Some people think it's impossible to have a cobra, but a horned viper, because Cleopatra was recorded to have smuggled the snake in a fig basket. For a cobra that's nearly 2 meters long, a desert horned viper is only 40 to 60 centimeters long, so the viper is easier to carry."
"But there are other texts that tell of Cleopatra finding a snake in a cave, which is a typical habitat for cobras compared to horned vipers."
"But I tend to think it's the cobra. One reason is the legend. Everyone wants to go to heaven after death. The other reason is the toxin."
"The cobra's venom stops the heart and paralyzes the brain, but causes minimal damage to the skin around the bite."
"The horned viper would have caused necrosis and blackening of the skin and flesh, which would have spread to the limbs. No one mentions Cleopatra's body having horrific wounds, but it's possible that her guards covered them up to preserve her beauty."
[I don’t understand, but I was shocked]
[This cobra looks different from the ones Lao Fang encountered before. It’s pitch black.]
[Indeed, if it hadn’t opened that thing, I would have thought it was a black mamba.]
[Is it true that ostriches are so fierce? ]
As he spoke, the ostrich finally launched an attack on the cobra.
