Death in the Bush

摘要

The stench of decay rises from the bush j ust olt-side of Main Camp, the dilapidated, near-deserted headquarters at Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park. Only a few months ago, the acacia groves, savanna grass and mopane scrub ran thick with wildlife. But now a visitor can drive for miles without seeing anything alive. There's plenty of death, though. A few miles beyond headquarters, the corpses of two male elephants rot in the heat, not far from a watering hole that dried up in October. Farther along, at the empty Musuma tourist camp, the desiccated remains of two kudu and two more elephants lie beside a muddy reservoir. "We think these ones died from disease," says the camp's attendant, who gave his name only as George. "The legs swell up and burst. Then they fall down."