Chapter 885: Law of Survival
After watching the river for a long time, the wildebeest leader finally decided to take the first step and give it a try.
The water was calm, clearly reflecting the wildebeest leader's flowing golden hair, and a round hoof hanging high in the air slowly stepped in.
“Wow!”
The huge sound of water splashing scared away a circle of wildebeests on the shore, including the wildebeest leader who just wanted to give it a try. Their wet hooves left one round mark after another on the mud.
The river channel that was originally crowded with wildebeests suddenly became a semicircular open space with a diameter of more than ten meters, which also allowed the Bifang in the tree and the audience to better observe what was happening.
In the open space surrounded by wildebeests, a Nile crocodile, which was estimated to be more than four meters long, bit a young wildebeest.
A successful hunt!
From the waist to the buttocks, the entire lower body of the young wildebeest was torn tightly by sharp teeth, unable to move. Only the two hooves of the upper body were left kicking continuously, but even so, they gradually became powerless.
After a long journey, many wildebeests were already thirsty after chewing on the yellow, moisture-free hay along the way. They licked their lips and noses with their thick and long tongues at a high frequency, and let out low gasps.
Faced with the calm river, many wildebeests choose to risk their lives to drink a few sips of water before crossing the river.
The crocodile attacked without hesitation at this moment.
This one-meter-long wildebeest was too small for an adult Nile crocodile, making hunting it effortless. The crocodile didn't even have to use its signature death roll. It raised its head high and swung it to one side with great force.
Under the tremendous force, a sound of fracture was heard, and the wildebeest calf's body bent to an exaggerated degree, and it was obvious that its spine was broken on the spot.
Not a single wildebeest tried to step forward and snatch back their companion. They just watched the Nile crocodile, which had successfully hunted, return to the river with its trophy, seemingly indifferent to the death of their companion.
Only a few equally strong Nile crocodiles nearby came forward to snatch food from their companions, adding noise to the eerily silent scene.
[This drift is so cool]
[This picture is so clear, it shocked me. I want to get a drone like Lao Fang someday]
You will find you can’t afford it
【Learn about the million drones】
Many viewers admire the strength of crocodiles, while others focus their attention on wildebeests.
[This wildebeest is so cold-blooded, it didn't react at all]
[Cold-blooded? This is nature. Nature is like this. There is no vitality. Everything is a subjective feeling imposed by humans.]
"It's normal to be indifferent." Bifang replied after seeing the comments, "Or maybe this is their survival strategy, just like when we see a big pothole on the road, we will actively avoid it instead of stepping into it."
The reason why wildebeests have become the largest group of medium and large wild animals in the entire African savannah and even in the world is naturally because they have a unique survival strategy.
Bifang, who was sitting on a tree branch, adjusted his sitting posture and raised two fingers in front of the camera: "The actions of wildebeest groups follow two rules."
"The first one is to follow the leader or companions, and follow them almost blindly."
"When wildebeests pass through a new area, they tend to line up one by one. If we follow a herd of wildebeests, we often see a scene like this: the herd is halfway through, and suddenly one individual dodges to the right."
As if to confirm Bifang's words, the semicircle that was previously vacant due to the hunting of the young wildebeest remained empty even after the crocodile left.
The wildebeest leader who was originally going to cross the river was once again caught in a decision. Many wildebeests then went to the river to drink water, but no wildebeest went to the semicircle that had just been vacated.
Obviously other places are equally unsafe, with crocodiles swarming everywhere.
Such a scene undoubtedly surprised many viewers.
[It seems to be true]
[What is the conversion? Once bitten by a snake, you will be afraid of the rope for ten years? 】
Bifang continued: "The reason may be that the first wildebeest to do so encountered a snake or smelled the scent of a predator, and then in the next half an hour, each individual behind it repeated the same path, leading the entire team to detour, even if the danger there has disappeared."
"To us, this rule seems stupid, but for low-intelligence animals, it keeps them safe."
"The same thing happens when crossing a river. It looks stupid, but it allows them to cross the river smoothly in most of the most difficult places."
After a pause, Bifang began to talk about the second point.
"The second rule is that the movement of the group is more important than anything else."
"Zoologists once saw this near Mara: a female wildebeest found that her calf was missing after crossing the river, while other individuals were moving forward, so she wanted to return to the river to look for her child."
"The calf heard its mother's call and swam towards her in response, but it couldn't get ashore because the place where its mother was staying was 4 meters high and a broken slope, but there was a relatively flat place 15 meters away."
After a pause, Bifang added: "I don't know if you have ever encountered dangerous experiences. If you think carefully, you will find that in danger, our brains are difficult to notice changes in the external environment. There may be a safe zone next to you, but you are so scared and panicked that you don't notice it at all."
[I haven’t encountered any danger, but I feel that what Lao Fang said is similar to the feeling I had when I gave my first speech. I focused all my attention on the manuscript, and then hurried off. In the end, I had no idea how the audience would react.]
[Good fellow, you can feel it by comparing it like this]
"Humans are like this, and animals with more instincts are even more like this. The young wildebeest instinctively chased in the direction of its mother and struggled on the broken slope."
"If the mother wildebeest could move to a flatter spot 15 meters away from the shore and guide her helpless calf, the calf would have a chance to get ashore."
"However, the momentum of the group was so strong that the female wildebeest turned around and ran towards the group without hesitation, choosing to give up."
"The last abandoned wildebeest calf struggled to exhaustion in the same place, retreated back into the water, and became food for the crocodiles."
Most of the audience were speechless after hearing this, with an indescribable feeling.
Is it sad?
Or angry?
Nothing at all.
Faced with her children, the female wildebeest finally chose to follow the main group.
These are their two main strategies, blindly following and closely following.
Facing the silence in the live broadcast room, Bifang smiled and said: "The survival strategy of the wildebeest is actually in sharp contrast to the survival rule of the zebra."
"Zebras usually live in a breeding group, which consists of a leader, several mares and their calves."
"The bonds between family members are very close, especially the males, who stick closely to their offspring."
"Once, in the Ngorongoro volcano area, a zoologist accidentally killed a young male zebra when he was putting a radio collar on it that had strayed from the herd. The zebra's father then began a frantic search, searching all the family groups in the area for 10 months."
[Grass, I am the knife, right?]
【This contrast...】
[Although I wasn’t that moved, I was still a little touched]
[Wait, did Fang say N'Golo twice? ]
Bifang shrugged: "That place is called Ngorongoro Crater. I'm not wrong. It is a dormant volcano in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa in northern Tanzania. It is known as the 'Garden of Eden in Africa' and is a very complete and beautiful crater in the world."
“Zebras are so persistent and their family bonds are so strong, yet here their population is only one-fifth the size of the wildebeest.”
"Although wildebeests are born into a world of danger and predators waiting for them, these seemingly stupid wildebeests have established the most perfect strategy to adapt to the entire ecosystem, consuming the most food and minimizing the amount of prey, making themselves the largest kingdom on the Serengeti grasslands."
The magnificent beauty of the grasslands and the vigilant eyes of predators coexist, but millions of wildebeests can survive in it, which has become a miracle in the mammal world.
“Many actions that seem ruthless and indifferent to us are actually one of the keys to the continued reproduction of the collective.”
"This is why I rarely, and don't like, anthropomorphizing animals. It's hard to understand the perspectives of different species. We don't need to understand them. We just need to record them as a bystander."
As soon as Bifang finished speaking, the noisy sound of water pumping started again.
This time it was no longer a hunt, but the wildebeest finally took a step forward and led a large group across the river.
