Sunday, April 8, 2018

Pond Clan Missing!


We interrupt your regularly scheduled program with this urgent news bulletin: Pond clan has gone missing!

It’s been nearly a month now since Pond clan has gone underground, and authorities are still unable to track down any leads to their new den of residence or where the adults and subadults have been living. Ever since December, sightings of the clan had become less and less frequent until by late February they were almost exclusively found just at the communal den.

Sadly, this tenuous connection was lost when the clan up and vanished without a trace from the den in early March. The police investigation found no sign of forced entry at the den, and all local lion prides were verified to have been sleeping at the time. In an exclusive interview, the neighboring warthog family states that they had heard nothing but the usual giggling and whooping.

Theories abound as to why and where the clan has disappeared, but our experts believe that shifting territorial boundaries and the explosion of tall grass caused it.

The shifting of boundaries started in November the neighboring Fig Tree clan pushed nearly a kilometer into Pond territory. This loss possibly precipitating the hostile take over that Pond clan engaged in against KCM clan, taking nearly a square kilometer of KCM territory. And these are just the territory shifts that we knew of before the long grass grew.

Pond clan territory on January 9th
Pond clan territory April 7th
Before February, the grass in pond likely measured about 10cm high, however after heavy rains in late January the grass rocketed up to nearly a meter tall. The grass is now so thick it could hide the entire clan together without a trace. The tall grass has also caused the ungulates to leave the area, “Tall grass isn’t very palatable for us and many other ungulates,” says Ms. Thompson Gazelle, and ex-resident of Pond territory, “not to mention dangerous, with predators possibly lurking everywhere.”


In these desperate times we ask you, the public, in helping us in the search, if anyone has information please call your local hyena research camp at the toll free number of 1(800)-698-POND.

Thank you for your cooperation.


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